Meet R Priya, Chennai’s Youngest And First-Ever Dalit Woman To Take Charge As Mayor

R Priya of the DMK is the first Dalit woman to hold the post of Mayor of Chennai. Priya will be Chennai’s third woman mayor after Tara Cherian and Kamakshi Jayaraman. Priya will be taking over as councillor of ward 74, Mangalapuram, also making her the first mayor from North Chennai.

Chennai: Greater Chennai Corporation gets its youngest and first-ever Dalit woman mayor, as DMK’s R Priya takes the oath of office in Chennai on Friday. The 29-year-old is Chennai’s third woman mayor after Tara Cherian and Kamakshi Jayaraman. She is also one of the several young candidates to win a councillor post in the Chennai Corporation, the youngest being Priyadarshini (21) of CPI(M), an ally of the DMK in the state.

The state government had recently passed a resolution to reserve a post for scheduled caste (SC) women ahead of the urban body elections in Chennai. Priya contested from ward 74 in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar and has been among the frontrunners for the post since last week.

Tamil Nadu | Greater Chennai Corporation gets its youngest and first-ever Dalit woman mayor, as DMK's R Priya takes the oath of office in Chennai. The 29-year-old is Chennai’s third woman mayor. pic.twitter.com/erfAt365h0

— ANI (@ANI) March 4, 2022

Meet R Priya, First Dalit Woman To Hold Mayor’s Position

1. The granddaughter of former DMK MLA Chengai Sivam, Priya hails from a family with a strong political background.
2. Priya is the daughter of ‘Perambur’ R Rajan, a ward-level DMK functionary in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, who has been in the party for over 30 years.
3. Born and brought up in Chennai, Priya completed her MCom in Sri Kanyaka Parameswari Arts College for Women.
4. Priya will be taking over as councillor of ward 74, Mangalapuram, also making her the first mayor from North Chennai after her party registered a landslide victory in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu urban local body elections.
5. For Priya, finding solutions to the city’s waterlogging problem is among the priorities on her list after she takes charge.

The DMK bagged all the 21 municipal corporations, with 946 wards in corporations, 2,360 in municipalities and as many as 4,388 in town panchayats.