From an orphan to a single mother and sole breadwinner, it was not an easy road for 30-year-old S. Sindu from Coimbatore. But these are factors that motivated her to decide to contest in the upcoming 2016 Assembly elections.

Having successfully played the roles, the youngest woman candidate of Coimbatore North constituency, Sindu, an independent candidate of Ilaiyabharatham Seva Trust, believes that her basic goal will be to solve the issue surrounding the identity crisis of the third gender.

“Transwomen are still harassed in society and the acceptance factor has not yet come. On the other hand, women are also equally harassed and these things have to change and I will work towards them,” assures Sindu.

Sindu also feels that her personal bitter experiences in the past with the Government will also help her find solutions to the people of her constituency.

“I remember how I was made to run from pillar to post by personnel of Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) when my father died in an accident. I had to spend from my purse for every single process and by the time our family received his body, we had spent an amount equal that would have been needed by a private hospital. This disturbed me a lot,” she says.

Expressing how corrupt the society has become over the years, Sindu also blames the current political parties for instigating corruption and drinking habit in the State, which once was ruled by pro-people Chief Ministers like K. Kamaraj.

“The State has become so corrupt that even a leader like Kamaraj was defeated,” she laments.

Talking about the tough competition she would be facing in the elections with her constituency previously dominated by parties, including AIADMK, DMK, Tamil Manila Congress (TMC), Indian National Congress (INC), CPI and CPM, Sindu believes that her door-to-door campaigning in the constituency could well prove to be the difference between her and other candidates.

“It is not about parties. I am from that constituency and I know the problems people here face at the grass root level. People know me well and will vote for me as I am campaigning for individuals and not masses,” she claims.

Commenting on the involvement of women and youth in politics today, Sindu also feels that the new media has given everyone an equal opportunity. “We welcome this increased involvement and it is healthy for politics that new and young faces come. The involvement of women is sure to help in the women empowerment process,” adds Sindu.