"I am one among the people. My honesty and commitment are for the betterment of tomorrow. I am contesting to see a change in the system,” says Tamanna Simhadri, who is contesting the Andhra Assembly Elections from Mangalagiri. Tamanna will be going up against bigwigs like Nara Lokesh of TDP and Alla Ramakrishna Reddy of the YSRCP.
34-year-old Tamanna, a graduate in Computer Applications, tells TNM that she works with Triveni, an NGO working for the welfare of women and the transgender community.
Appealing to the voters to give her a chance to represent them, Tamanna says she is the first transgender woman in the state to contest elections.
Tamanna has been busy campaigning and reaching out to people in her constituency and shares that she is getting a massive response from the voters.
“People are exhausted with this money politics. They are welcoming my decision. I have taken this decision to bring about a change and to tell that elections are not only for those power to contest,” she says.
Tamanna says that being a candidate who was born and brought up in the city of Vijayawada, she knows the issues of local people very well.
Tamanna, who hopes to make her debut in the Andhra Assembly, says that she wants to work against violence against women, among other causes.
"I will work against the atrocities on women and children, I will also work for right to education, I will fight for the rights of farmers whose land is being taken recklessly for government projects," Tamanna says.
Tamanna feels that there is a dire need for more members from the transgender community as well as women becoming a part of the legislative in order to achieve social justice and have better welfare policies.
Tamanna says she approached the Jana Sena for a ticket but since they were not contesting from Mangalagiri, she decided to file her nomination as an independent candidate. Jana Sena Party, which is in alliance with BSP and left parties in the state, has given the Mangalagiri ticket to its ally CPI, who has fielded M Nageshwara Rao.