Thiruvananthapuram: A 21-year-old woman named Arya Rajendran is all set to become the youngest Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation on Friday.
The district secretariat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M)) on Friday in a meeting decided to make her the Mayor.
The daughter of an electrician, Arya, is pursuing her B.Sc degree in Mathematics from all-women All Saints College. She was named by the party as head of the Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation after the LDF won 51 of its 100 wards in the recent polls.
Arya had won from Mudavanmukal ward. Her father Rajendran, explaining Arya’s interest in politics said, “Ours is a party family.”
She first associated with the party when she joined its children’s collective Balasangam as early as Class 5. “Later, I became the district president, and have been stating chief of the Balasangam for the past two years. Due to my active role in the Balasangam, I was taken into the Students’ Federation of India (CPM students’ wing) and I am part of its state committee,” Arya says, quoted The Indian Express.
However, the formal announcement from CPM is expected on Saturday.
Despite being dynamic in politics for quite a long time, Arya needed to keep her scholastic life separated. Both her college and the school she concentrated in, Carmel Girls’ Higher Secondary School, are Church-run organizations that don’t approve of campus politics. Arya expects she won’t have the option to go to classes routinely once she takes up her new task. The Indian Express quoted her as saying, “But all my teachers and friends are really helpful. I will figure out a way to continue my studies as well.”
Kadakampally Surendran, CPM Thiruvananthapuram leader, and the minister said, “The youth and the new generation, they are the future of this country. They have clarity about the need for transparent political systems, they have bigger dreams and a vision. Arya has the experience, she is very good. Her age is not a cause for worry as we have plenty of examples of young civil service officers delivering amazing work as district collectors.”