Chennai gets its youngest and first dalit woman as mayor. R.Priya, 28 years of age has been selected for the post by the ruling DMK party. Priya will be the third woman to hold the post after Tara Cherian and Kamakshi Jayaraman. The deputy mayor will be M.Mukesh. The post of Mayor was held earlier by Saidai Draisamy from the AIADMK who held the post from 2011 to 2016. After his 5 year term ended in 2016, no polls were held to the local bodies until last month.
Priya is the granddaughter of former DMK MLA Chengai Sivam and the daughter of R.Rajan, the area co-secretary for the DMK. She hails from a political background and has an MCom degree to her credit. She joined the DMK at a young age of 18.
She was elected councillor from ward number 74 in Chennai’s Thiru Vi Ka Nagar in the urban local body polls held on February 19. Thiru Vi Ka Nagar is in the northern region of Chennai and is not well developed. People living in this area live in congested buildings with poor infrastructure. Priya has a lot on her hands and is confident that she can perform well.
