Raipur: It is nearly nine years since eunuch Rajni Rawat made her political debut with Doon mayoral election and lost narrowly but not without leaving a mark.
Fighting as an Independent candidate from constituencies of Raipur and Dharmapur, Rawat, who was appointed as the vice-chairperson of State Commission for Women in 2015, claims that she was "betrayed" by the Congress which had promised her a ticket and vows to defeat the ruling party as well as BJP.
If she is elected to Uttarakhand Assembly, Rawat says she will work to unite the Independents that will form a third force in the state.
The transgender claimed that Chief Minister Harish Rawat had promised her Congress ticket but the decision was changed at the last moment. Earlier, she said, former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna also failed to keep his promise of allotting her party ticket in last assembly election.
"Harish Rawat had promised me ticket from Raipur constituency for current assembly election but it went to someone else at the last moment. Congress has always betrayed me.
"In 2009 Lok Sabha elections, I wanted to fight and would have won from Tehri constituency but Bahuguna told me to support him and promised me party ticket for assembly election in 2012," she said.
"Bahuguna also tied 'rakhi' but he did not keep the sanctity of the thread and betrayed me," Rawat told PTI.
Asked whether she approached BJP for the ticket, Rawat said, "There were no talks regarding ticket with BJP". She also made it clear that she would not join any of the two parties if she wins.
The transgender is confident about her propects. "Shabnam Mausi has come from Madhya Pradesh (to campaign for me). She has won several times as Independent and served the people as Independent candidate. Neither BJP nor Congress was able to take that seat. I will also serve the people by remaining Independent," she said.
Shabnam was the country's first transgender MLA. Rawat said that Independent candidates have made up their mind that they would not join any national party but would form their own outfit.
"BJP and Congress are hand in glove. They are forming government alternatively. They are making a fool of the people of Uttarakhand. All the Independent candidates, who are in the fray, have made up their mind that they will form their own party to serve the people," she said.
She said while BJP and Congress candidates are known by their parties, she had a special bond with the voters as they know her by her name.
"Uttarakhand people are thinking that I am a 'fakir' (hermit) and one who blesses the people. People are sayingthat it is their good luck that such a fakir will give them blessing," she said.
Rawat says her agenda had been regularisation of the slums.
"Now work is being done in that direction with fullefforts. Now my focus is to provide employment to the youth.
The parents work day and night, face a lot of hardship to impart education to their children and they must get jobs to uplift the family," she said.
Rawat also claimed that she was approached by a Congress minister in Himachal Pradesh government with an offer of Rajya Sabha seat provided she withdraws from the electoral fray.
According to census, India has 4.9 lakh transgenders but activists peg the number six to seven times higher than the official figures.
