A young woman from Tamil Nadu, Sharukala, is now among the youngest panchayat presidents in Tamil Nadu after being elected from the Venkadampatti Panchayat, reserved for women, in the newly-constituted Tenkasi district.
“I am happy about this victory and I am humbled people have reposed faith in me, the youngest among the five candidates who contested,” the 22-year-old, who is pursuing her Masters in Engineering from the Hindustan Institute of Technology in Coimbatore, said.
She was elected following the two-phase rural local body elections that were held in Tamil Nadu’s nine newly constituted districts that were formed for administrative convenience and after public demand.
Ms. Sharukala mentioned she wants more and more educated young people to enter politics at the local body level. She has faith in her idea that the “educated young can do more and much better than others.”
The young leader’s father, Ravi Subramanian, a farmer, had contested the panchayat elections last time and had failed. After being asked whether she would let him or any male member in the family take control, she replied, “No, I would function independently in consultation with the people.”
On her wanting to shift to the assembly or parliament in the future, Ms. Sharukala said, “I have not thought anything about that.”
The counting of votes for the rural local body polls in Tamil Nadu displays that the ruling DMK is set to soar high in the elections. The DMK has won 45 of 153 district panchayat ward member seats and is leading in most of the rest. It has also won 645 of 1,421 panchayat union ward member seats and is leading mostly.
