NEW DELHI: “When I visited the District Magistrate’s (DM) office to file my candidature, I found that gender-neutral toilet was missing,” says 26-year-old Rajan Singh, Delhi’s lone third-gender candidate in the Lok Sabha polls. This is how Singh came up with the slogan, “Sauchalya se, sansad tak” (From toilet to Parliament).
Singh is not new in politics. In 2016, Singh was enrolled in the University of Delhi’s Aryabhatta College as a bachelor’s student and won the 2017 students’ elections for the post of joint secretary. “I used this post to demand a gender-neutral toilet for third gender students. However, the demand was seen as an academic disruption and, I was rusticated,” Singh told this newspaper.
“All of this happened as I fought for the rights,” Singh said, adding that the rustication strained Singh’s relationship with parents. “I have not been in touch since; they do not know I have filed my nomination.” Singh’s father, an electrician, lives in Bihar’s Chhapra.
However, Principal Manoj Sinha, when contacted, denied Singh’s allegations stating that Singh was short on attendance “Singh wanted to become a neta (political leader) and missed classes,” Sinha claimed. Consequently, Singh was barred from entering college asked to surrender his ID, and present himself to the college’s disciplinary committee. The issue also went to court.
Singh stated that one of the key issues for contesting general elections is toilets for the third gender and chose a bucket as a poll symbol. Singh also wants to fast-track the process of procuring the identity certificate for third gender.
Mentioning the alleged life-threatening attack on April 12 at his office in Badarpur, Singh said third gender lives a life of constant fear.
Singh approached the Delhi High Court, which ordered the Delhi police to provide security. However, Singh informed the court that the poll panel did not respond to the request for security. “As a protest, I went half-naked, dressed only in dhoti (loin cloth) and a cap, to the returning officer of South Delhi to file my nomination papers.”