HIGHLIGHTS:
• Damayanti Manjhi, 21, stood for Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC)
• She was elected as the city’s youngest deputy mayor
• Her primary focus is to work on improving the living conditions of the slum dwellers
Damayanti Manjhi, who grew up in a slum in Cuttack, Odisha, has realised the saying that ‘The destination comes to those who have life in their dreams’. Damayanti Manjhi, 21, stood for Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) and was elected as the city’s youngest deputy mayor. For Damayanti and her mother, it’s all a dream; they didn’t expect it, and they can’t believe it.
Contested elections for the first time and became Deputy Mayor by winning
Damayanti, who belongs to the Santhali tribe,resides in Cuttack’s Jagatpur Balisahi slum. Damayanti Manjhi, a Biju Janata Dal candidate, won the municipal election on March 24 from Ward 49. Following this, members of the opposition BJP and Congress staged a walkout in protest of the election’s protocols, and Daymanti was appointed deputy mayor on April 7.
Coming forward for the change
Politics was never Damayanti’s first choice, she said. I had never envisaged myself winning an election and then becoming the deputy mayor of Cuttack, so it’s all like a dream to me. I had never before taken part in any political activity, but I felt compelled to do so in order to alter my life and the lives of others like me. Only with this belief, I had nominated in the election.
Her father is no more, mother is a daily wage worker
She is currently a final year student of M.Com at Renshaw University. Damayanti hails from a laboring family. He runs his house on daily wages. In the year 2017, Damayanti’s father Shyamsundar Manjhi died. Since then, she has been taking up the responsibility of running the house along with her mother and raising her two younger siblings. Along with this, she is also doing her own studies.
Young Deputy Mayor started work
Damayanti has been working on her plans for Cuttack’s development projects since becoming deputy mayor. Damayanti claims that for the next five years, she will concentrate on development projects throughout the Cuttack Municipal Corporation’s 59 wards. The citizens of the city have entrusted me with such a monumental task. Of course, I lack political experience, but I intend to work hard and do my best to meet the inhabitants’ expectations.
She further says that there is a lot to do in the city, I want to work on all of them, but first of all I want to work on improving the living conditions of the slum dwellers. I have been seeing the basic needs of the slum dwellers since childhood. So, first of all, I want to ensure basic amenities like drinking water and electricity in the slum area.
