Delhi Elections: Delhi’s first transgender MP candidate, Rajan Singh, was allegedly assaulted and not permitted to vote at their polling booth in Sangam Vihar on Saturday.
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However, the police later escorted them to the polling station where they finally cast their vote.
According to Singh, a presiding officer at the polling booth had manhandled them when they demanded a separate queue for transgender voters.
“None of the polling booths in Delhi have a queue for transgender persons but they have separate queues for male and female voters. I never asked to be born this way but there should be some amount of respect given to an MP candidate,” they said.
Singh asserted that the incident lasted for over an hour.
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They further said that none of the polling booths have any washrooms for transgender people either.
They also alleged that the community was not being permitted to vote.
“None of the polling booths have a bathroom for transgender voters. Even after 75 years of independence, our transgender community is not being permitted to vote,” they said.
Following the incident, multiple senior officials reached the spot where Singh sat in protest.
According to Singh, the officials wrote down the words ‘Transgender’ on a plain white piece of paper and led Singh to the polling station with it to signify the separate queue for transgender persons.
The transgender candidate further added, “The government has been doing injustice with us since we do not have any kind of reservation, be it in government offices, hospitals, schools, and universities. Even during elections, they are doing injustice with us.”
The State Election Commission is yet to respond.
At 26, Singh is the youngest candidate contesting from Delhi in these elections.
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