If there’s one thing that Narendra Modi’s election to the Prime Ministerial seat has proven, it is that even a tea seller (if that’s really what he was) can make it big in this country. Taking inspiration from Modi, one woman in UP, also a tea seller, stood for elections and has now become the village pradhan, says a news report in the Times of India.
Pooja Kumari, a tea seller at Patiyali station and resident of Nagla Karan village in Kasganj, UP is not only the first woman in her village to become a Pradhan, she is also the first person (and that includes men too) in her entire village to get this post after 65 years, something for which she is very proud. Pooja will now be heading the administration for 16 villages!
Speaking to TOI, mother of two children, Pooja Kumari said, “Let alone winning, just standing in the election was a big deal for me and my family. After watching the life history of PM Modi on television, my husband motivated me to follow PM’s path and supported me to stand in the Pradhan election.”
Pooja, an arts graduate with B.Ed degree, said, “My in-laws have been selling tea here for ages. After marriage, I too joined my husband at his tea stall at Patiyali railway station. None of my ancestors in family had any political background, but more than 4,500 voters of 16 villages voted for me to become first Pradhan from my village.”
Image Courtesy: BCCL
Pooja has a four-year-old daughter. She says, “There are many villages in our panchayat region where there are no schools for children especially for girls, the villages also lack proper roads. I’ll now move mountains to ensure that there are schools and other facilities for all the 16 villages.”
Expressing his happiness, Pooja’s husband Manish said, “I’m BA fail but I knew my wife is special. She won the election with a close margin of 111 votes. I have no words to express as how much proud I feel now.”
“During election campaign I took care of our children and tea stall and helped Pooja to meet and interact with villagers and convince them about the prosperous dream which we had thought for our people and children,” he added.
But Pooja wasn’t the only woman to stand for the Pradhan elections this year. A total 4,77,814 people stood in UP for village Pradhan election out of which 44.79 per cent were women candidates, including one pregnant Pradhan who went into labour on the day of her swearing-in ceremony.
Image via Mumbai The City of Dreams
