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Two eunuchs to contest elections from Lucknow

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

With two eunuchs having plunged into the fray from Lucknow, the forthcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are likely to witness history of sorts.

While the six-feet-tall Payal is posing a challenge to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's man Friday Lalji Tandon, who also happens to be the state's minister for housing and urban development, Sridevi is taking on Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Suresh Tiwari.

"You have seen the government run by men and woman; now see a government run by eunuchs," Payal says. "Even with a minister for housing and urban development, this constituency remained plagued with poor sanitation, shortage of drinking water and absence of many other civic amenities", she says.

"My aim is to serve the people and get rid of corruption by exposing bungling in high places", she adds

Payal first shot into limelight when she participated in the first ever fashion show by eunuchs. And now she is the first eunuch to contest from the capital of India's most populous state, which also happens to be the political constituency of the prime minister.

She has a great sense of style too! Payal was dressed in jeans, a red button-down collar shirt and a navy blue blazer when she went to hand over her nomination papers. And when the returning officer told her "thank you", she quipped: "Wish me good luck too!"

"We eunuchs have no family or relatives. So, unlike others who have this insatiable lust to fill coffers not only for themselves, but for their future generations, we have no such interests," says Sridevi

Considering that her opponent has earned much disrepute for not having done anything, Sridevi's slogans on corruption and the incumbent's indifference towards the problems of the people is likely to be a hit with the electorate.

Shaista Ambar, a well-known social worker who founded the National Communist Party to promote the political interests of eunuchs, said: "We are going to have a large number of eunuchs from different corners of the country to campaign for the Lucknow candidates."

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