The Lok Sabha elections of 2019 gave us yet another powerful and inspiring woman figure – the 25-Year-Old Chandrani Murmu who created history by becoming the youngest MP in India’s history.
After the announcement of her nomination, Chandrani Murmu was tagged as the surprise candidate of Biju Janata Dal from the Keonjhar seat in Odisha. But she proved peoples’ uncertainty wrong when she defeated the two-time BJP MP Ananta Nayak by a margin of 66,203 votes and claimed the Keonjhar constituency with her victory. With this, she became the youngest MP in India’s history.
Education and Family
After spending her childhood in the Tikargumura village of Odisha, Chandrani Murmu completed her Bachelors in Technology from the Siksha O Anusandhan University in Bhubaneswar in 2017.
She wishes to put forth the demands of the tribals, women, and the youth who had been her major support during her campaigning.
Chandrani comes from a family that hasn’t been much involved in politics. Her father, Sanjiv Murmu, is a government employee. Her mother, Urvashi, is a retired government worker from the ICDS department. It was only her maternal grandfather, Harihar Soren, who had been involved in politics as the MP of the Keonjhar constituency.
Main Priorities
Chandrani, the youngest MP of India, is clear about her main priorities as the people’s representative. She wishes to put forth the demands of the tribals, women, and the youth who had been her major support during her campaigning.
“I am learning the ropes as I go. I have a long road ahead. Travelling across my constituency has acquainted me with the problems people are facing. If elected, I would try to solve the drinking water and unemployment problems,” she told the Indian Express.
Chandrani, as reported by Business Today, plans to improve the education of the people in her region. She also wishes to improve the industrial sector by establishing a steel plant and a new railway line between Keonjhar and Bhubaneshwar.
Also read: These Women MPs Made History By Getting Elected In 2019
In an interview with India Today, she said that hew major focus was on increasing the employment opportunities in her region and she would do this by setting up new industries. “It is unfortunate that the employment crisis is high in a mineral-rich district like Keonjhar. I will represent the youth and women of my state at the Centre,” she said.
Chandrani told She The People, “I want the youth here to get opportunities – whether in politics or whichever field they choose to be in.”
In another interview, Chandrani expressed her will to visit all corners of her constituency to know about her people and their demands. “My first priority will be to know the constituency and spend as much as time with the people,” she told News18.
Challenges Faced
Murmu’s journey to becoming the youngest parliamentarian was not all that easy. As a tribal woman, she constantly faced battles caused by Brahminical patriarchy.
it was through her educational background and her communication skills that Chandrani was able to connect to the people of her constituency.
First, BJP filed a complaint against her, before the Election Commission, regarding an inconsistency found in her father’s name. Then, in a misogynist attempt, a video with edited images of Chandrani was circulated on WhatsApp without her consent. Both these instances became examples of the many ways in which the powerful lot of our country subjects the marginalised to harassment in order to hinder their entry into the positions of power. They show how questions of caste and gender identity plague Indian politics.
Many doubted her because of her young age. In addition to all these marginalisations, there was also the fact that at 3.40 lakhs Rs. annually, Chandrani was amongst the top three elected candidates with the least recorded assets.
But it was through her educational background and her communication skills that Chandrani was able to connect to the people of her constituency. She was even given the tag of “the daughter of the village”. By countering all these challenges, Chandrani became another inspiring female leader of our country.
By becoming the youngest MP of India in 2019, Chandrani replaced Dushyant Chautala who was elected at the age of 26 from the Hisar Lok Sabha seat in 2014.
Also read: “Highest Number of Women MPs in History”: What This Means For Women Representation In 2019
This year, 7 out of the 21 seats in Odisha have been bagged by women MPs. This makes it the first state ever to have 33 per cent or the largest share of women MPs in India’s history.
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