Kerala’s largest corporation to have India’s youngest mayor

Thiruvananthapuram: A 21-year-old college student has been officially proposed as the next Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala.

Arya Rajendran has won the recent civic polls as a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) that heads the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the southern Indian state.

The party, which won the majority in the state’s largest corporation, on December 27 proposed Rajendran’s name for the mayor’s post, making her the youngest mayor in India.

She broke the record of Sabitha Beegum, who became Kollam Mayor at 23, and Devendra Fadnavis, the opposition leader in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, who became the mayor of Nagpur Municipal Corporation at the age of 27

Rajendran is second years student of BSc Maths at the All Saints College, managed by the Congregation of Carmelite Religious, a Catholic religious order for women.

She had won from the Mudavanmughal ward of the city corporation, bagging 2,872 votes, 549 more than her rival Congress candidate. Thiruvananthapuram Mayor K Sreekumar of the same party had suffered a shock defeat in the polls.

The LDF won majority of 53 of the 100 seats in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, followed by National Democratic Alliance. The main opposition, Congress led United Democratic Front, came third.

This was also the first time Rajendran exercised her vote in the local body elections because of her age.

The voting age in India is 18.

Rajendran would turn 22 on January 12, 2021.

“Even though I was not entitled to vote in the last local body elections, I had actively campaigned for the party candidate. That experience and exposure helped me this time. I have been actively involved with the party during election campaign in the past,” Rajendran told NDTV.

Her parents – K Rajendran and Sreelatha – are branch committee members of CPI(M). Her father is an electrician and her mother an LIC agent. She also has a brother — all strong CPI(M) supporters.

Rajendran has been associated with the party from young age.

“From the time I remember my childhood, I was going to Balasangham (children’s team). May be from around the age of 5. I am now the state president for Balasangham,” said the young woman, who is also the Students Federation of India (SFI) state committee member.

Balasangham is the Marist party’s children’s wing and SFI is the party’s students wing.

“My parents and I firmly believe in what the party stands for,” Rajendran said.

She said her family “fully supported me and are extremely happy.”

She said she would not stop her studies.” I will continue it. I also want to pursue my higher studies in Public Administration,” she said when asked about her future plans.

Asked about becoming a mayor at such a young age, Rajendran said, ” Democracy is not about one person leading alone, it’s about deciding collectively and getting decisions implemented. The party has ushered in a new era with this decision and by fielding so many young candidates, including young women candidates.”

She also said growing with the party has exposed her to challenges and crisis management. “One of the leading examples is our own Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the way he communicated with people and leaders during various disasters,” she added.

Vijayan, who became Kerala chief minister in 2016, has steered the state through two devastating floods and other calamities.

Rajendran says her top priority as the mayor would be waste management in the city, a challenging task for her predecessors.

“Our city is beautiful. To keep it like this, it should be free of waste. Besides a scientific waste management system, a thorough awareness is needed among people not to dump waste on the waysides,” Rajendran told news agency PTI.

Source: ndtv.com