Samajwadi Party  has fielded a transgender Gulshan Bindu for the Mayoral election of Ayodhya –Faizabad nagar nigam. Bindu has been rewarded by the opposition party for its capacity to cut into the vote bank of the BJP.  Besides Gulshan Bindu in the fray also mocks at the Hindutuva agenda of the BJP. 

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had sought to create a new template of the Hindutuva by celebrating Diwali on the banks of river Saryu at Ayodhya on October 18.  The present BJP government   by clubbing the twin towns Ayodhya-Faizabad upgraded as nagar nigam (Municipal Corporation).

``We have learnt from our past mistakes of last assembly elections.  We cannot fight the BJP on the issue of Hindutuva as they paint us anti Hindu with little effort.  There is never dearth of divisive  issues like `Shamshaan and Kabristan’   with the BJP and now they have discovered  `Taj mahal’ , so let them fight our candidate  who  is neither Hindu nor muslim ,who commands the respect of the common people irrespective of the caste and religion’’, said  Jai Shankar Pandey, former Samajwadi party  MlA from Faizabad. 

This would not be the first time that Gulshan Bindu is trying her luck. She had contested the polls for assembly seat in 2012 and also for chairman of Faizabad Nagar palika election in 2012, as an independent candidate. She didn’t win the elections, but she emerged as a kingmaker as she disrupted political equations of the BJP.

It will the third electoral battle for Gulshan Bindu in last five years.Gulshan had contested the state Assembly election in 2012 as an independent candidate.  A political greenhorn Tej Narayan Pandey of the Samajwadi party and BJP’s veteran and five term MlA lallu Singh were also in the fray. An over confident lallu Singh had to bite the dust as Gulshan Bindu by polling little over 22,000 votes, ensured the victory of the Samawjadi party candidate by denting into the vote bank of the BJP.

later Gulshan in 2012 contested the election of Chairman of Faizabad nagar paliks.  Gulshan lost the elections but it was a herculean task    for the BJP candidate Vinay Gupta to win Gupta. Gulshan Bindu finished second in the election.

In 2012 the punch line of the Gulshan Bindu’s campaign was “Na Muslim, Na Hindu, Abki Gulshan Bindu (Neither a Muslim nor a Hindu, this time Gulshan Bindu) slogan, Gulshan managed to attract the voters’ attention in these two polls in Ayodhya and Faizabad.

During the 2012 assembly elections, the BJP had lodged a complaint against Gulshan Bindu, accusing her of violating the code of conduct by making people swear to vote for her. It is a common belief in many parts of the state that not fulfilling a pledge or promise made to a ‘kinnar’ (transgender) is inauspicious. At the same time their blessings are considered auspicious. 

``I sincerely thank the Samajwadi party national president Akhilesh Yadav for showing confidence in me. Ayodhya se mein Yogi Ji Ko Jawab doongi (I will give a befitting reply to Yogiji from Ayodhya),” Gulshan Bindu said.