MP Polls -- Fighting the Odds Are a Eunuch, a Deaf & Mute and a Chaiwala

Bhopal: From eunuchs to the deaf and mute, a chaiwala to a Vyapam scam accused, there are many candidates who are contesting the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections and are confident of victory and ushering in some change. While most of  them are independent, some of them have party backing.

Of 2,932 total candidates who are contesting for seats in the 230-member state Assembly 1,102 are independent. 

The fight in Madhya Pradesh is essentially between three major political parties – Bharatiya Janata Paraty (BJP), Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)– but some of these independent candidates cannot be ignored.

Madhya Pradesh has been a trail-blazer in inclusive politics. It gave to the country its first eunuch MLA – Shabnam Mausi – who won from the Sohagpur constituency in Shahdol-Anuppur district in 1998-2003.

The country's first eunuch mayor was also from Madhya Pradesh. Kamla Jaan was elected as mayor of Katni Municipal Corporation in 1999. Another eunuch, Kamla Mousi, was elected mayor from Sagar in 2009.

Madhya Pradesh also has the privilege of sending the country's first blind person to Parliament way back in 1977. Yamuna Prasad Shastri was elected to the Lok Sabha twice – in 1977 and 1989 – from Rewa.

NewsClick dug deeper and tried to bring out details of all such candidates who are ‘different’ and confident.

Eunuchs

Of total 5.3 crore voters in the state, there are only 14,010 eunuch voters, according to the latest Election Commission data. Enthused with the previous success stories of Shabnam Mousi, the first eunuch MLA and first eunuch mayor of the country Kamla Jaan and Kamla Mousi, this time six eunuchs are in the fray.

The six candidates are: Bala Weshwar from Indore, Rehana from Damoh, Panchi Deshmukh from Hoshangabad, Durga Mousi from Badwara (Katni district), Neha from Ambah and Shabnam Mousi from tribal-dominated Kotma seat (Annupur district).    

Among all of them, the result in Morena constituency may spring up a surprise as  the transgender candidate in this seat ‘Ambah’ is in a strong position, other than candidates from the Congress, BJP and BSP.

Detached for 15 years from active politics, Shabnam Mousi is making a comeback and is contesting from Kotma constituency. She caught the eye of international media when she won in the Sohagpur constituency in 1998. Shabnam became a celebrity MLA but faced humiliation in the Assembly by her fellow legislators. She refused to contest the next election.

Incidentally, a Hindi film, featuring the life and struggle of Shabnam Mousi, has also been made.

A deaf and mute candidate from Rewa

Upset with the atrocities on differently-abled people, especially the deaf and mute, Sudeep Shukla, professionally a software engineer, decided to quit his job and enter the fray to work for this deprived section of the society.

Shukla quit his job and is contesting the Assembly election from Rewa constituency under the banner of Apna Dal.

This is first of its kind instance in the country of a deaf and mute person  contesting an Assembly election. If Shukla wins, he will become the first deaf and mute MLA in the country.

Shukla, an M.Sc in information and technology from Alagappa University in Chennai, and was earning Rs 1 lakh per month at software giant Infosys, Bengaluru.

A high-profile campaigning is underway for Shukla, who is drawing support from prominent citizens. Gyanendra Purohit, who runs an NGO called Anand Service Society for the differently-abled, said they were inviting deaf and mute politicians from across the world.

“We are inviting Raghav Bir Joshi from Nepal who became Asia's first deaf MP, the world's first deaf and mute MP Ndeezi Alex of Uganda and New Zealand's first deaf and mute parliamentarian Mojo Celeste Mathers for the election campaign,” said Purohit.

Shukla believes that Indian politicians, who are not deaf and mute, have failed to uproot poverty, unemployment and starvation deaths. "This country does not need those who can speak and hear but those who can perform. And I believe in action," said Purohit quoting Shukla.

Shukla's wife, who is also deaf and mute, is also a software engineer in Bengaluru.

A Chaiwala Who Has Been Contesting Since 1994

Anand Singh Kushwaha, (49) a tea-seller, is another interesting candidate who has been contesting from Gwalior South constituenc since 1994 but has never tasted victory. For him, an election is an election, whether it is of a civic body, legislative Assembly, Lok Sabha or even for electing the president. His nomination has been rejected four times for the presidential polls as he could not garner support of MLAs, which is a prerequisite.

“I’m hopeful that people will elect me. There is a wave of change in the area this year,” Kushwaha said. The first time he threw his hat in poll arena was for theGwalior Municipal Corporation on a BSP ticket. “In first election I fought against Narayan Singh Kushwaha, who later became MLA and is a minister in the present government,” he said.

Earlier, Kushwaha’s family raised objections to contesting every election but now his family is supportive. His wife Ganga runs the tea stall for now.

Vyapam Scam Accused in the Fray

Jagdish Sagar, one of the key accused in the Vyapam scam, is contesting on a BSP ticket from Gohad constituency of Bhind district. The matter came to light after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) filed a complaint to the Election Commission.

Vyapam is an entrance examination, admission and recruitment scam that was unearthed in 2013. According to media reports, senior politicians, officials and businessmen of the state are allegedly involved in this scam. Over 40 people, allegedly directly or in-directly involved in this scam, have been reported dead under under suspicious circumstances.

Sagar was booked by the Madhya Pradesh Special Task Force in several cases, which have since been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation that has been investigating Vyapam scam. He is also booked by the Enforcement Directorate and has spent nearly two years in jail before getting bail.

"Sagar is moving in a long cavalcade despite the fact that the EC has said that a candidate should only move with a maximum of three vehicles. We have informed the EC bench about it," CPI(M) state general secretary Jasvindar Singh said.

Polling in the state is on November 28 and the result will be declared on December 11, 2018. Till then, hopes run high among all these candidates.