An extraordinary candidate in Ernakulam

Thiruvananthapuram: Aswathi Rajappan, 25, better known as Chinju Aswathi, is no ordinary candidate. ‘Ze’ (Chinju abhors the pronouns ‘he’ and ‘she’) is fighting the Lok Sabha elections from Ernakulam to assert the identity of intersex persons, who have been alienated and oppressed.

Chinju, a post-graduate from MG University, says politics cannot be separated from one’s identity, which is the issue ze wants to highlight in the campaign.

Chinju is taking on Hibi Eden of the UDF, P. Rajeev of the LDF and Alphons Kannanthanam of the NDA, facing heavy odds.

In the nomination paper, ze secured the signatures of 10 persons from different identities, including a differently-abled, a transgender, a Muslim, a woman aged above 50, a bisexual and a homosexual.

“I have faced multiple levels of oppression for being intersex, a Dalit and a transgender. I am raising funds for the

campaign through the democratic platform. The campaign is also supported by those who have associated themselves with the queer community movement in the state and other states. Individuals who had supported the movement for asserting the identity of the transgender community provided the deposit money,” Chinju told this paper over phone.

“I believe in Ambedkarist politics and want to speak out for all marginalised communities, be it Dalit, adivasi or Muslim. The visibility of the transgender community in the public sphere is also a political question,” said
Chinju, who hails from Angamaly.

The election symbol of Chinju, perhaps the youngest candidate, is laptop.