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Meet UP's 23-year-old woman sarpanch

Onkar Singh in Noida

Pushpa Nagar, an unassuming 23-year-old village girl, is suddenly at the centre of a media circus in Muphar village in Uttar Pradesh.

She was recently elected sarpanch of Gautam Budha Nagar (also known as Greater NOIDA), which puts her in charge of 36 villages.

The minute we hit the road leading to her village, many villagers came out of their mud houses and began converging at the home of 60 year old Pritam Singh, Pushpa father.

"You want to meet Pushpa Nagar?" asks a young lad and leads us to her house.

The moment we are ushered into the house, Pushpa emerges and greets us with folded hands and a cheerful namaste.

"Star TV people came to see me and said they would show me on television. But I have no means to know whether they have kept their promise or not. In any case, I don't even have a cable television connection to see their channel," she says.

When told that the channel had kept its promise, she giggles.

"My elder sister Kamlesh wanted to contest the election many years back but because she got married she could not. Hence I decided to do what she could not. It took one and a half months of campaigning and an expenditure of over Rs 50,000 to turn my dream into reality. After I was elected on June 26, there has been a dramatic change in my life," Pushpa told rediff.com.

Armed with a masters degree in Hindi (incidentally all four sisters have done their MA in Hindi), Pushpa decided to try her luck by contesting the reserved seat for women candidates from Gautam Budha Nagar.

"Initially my parents refused permission saying this kind of thing is not for women. When I told them that I was only contesting from the reserved seat, they reluctantly agreed to support me. Once this was done, I asked elders of the village for their permission. They also obliged. Likewise sarpanches and panches of many other villages also started backing my candidature. I knew I had a good chance because I was the only literate candidate in the fray," she says.

"In all there were 12 candidates including former zilla sarpanch Ayesha Begum. While some were backed by parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party, I contested as an independent. I would leave the house at five in the morning and return only at 10 pm or even later. On the day of polling, I woke up at three and began meeting people. I went to each and every house in the 36 villages. I met women separately and pleaded with them to vote for me. My election symbol was a kettle, so I used to tell voters mohar usi pe lagiyo jismen chay peete hain . However, another candidate had a cup and saucer as a symbol and this cost me a lot of votes," she says smiling.

When asked what her plans are and if males would try to manipulate her, she says, "I am here to stay in politics and under no circumstances will anyone manipulate me. I have promised villagers better roads and uninterrupted supply of electricity and water. There are many things needed to improve the living standard of villagers. I plan to visit every village and talk to the people and list their problems. Then I will pester those in authority to do the work.

"The last sarpanch Ayesha Begum did not even step out of her house once she was elected. Her family members would roam around as if they had been elected. With me no such thing will happen. I want literate women to come out and work for the betterment of their villages. I have taken the lead. I am sure others will follow," she said.

Pushpa polled more then 7,800 votes. Her nearest rival did not manage even 4,000." I am not the first woman to become a zilla sarpanch. There have been many before me. But I am the youngest. But I have the qualification which no other zilla sarpanch in Uttar Pradesh has," she declares.

The village elders too have faith that she will be able to discharge her functions more effectively than her predecessors.

" She has achieved her first goal. Now she has to do something before we can say whether we have chosen the right person or not," said a villager.

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