In A 1st In 3 Decades, Woman Kashmiri Pandit To Contest J&K Assembly Polls
NDTV
Daisy Raina used to work at a private company in Delhi and has been a sarpanch in Jammu and Kashmir.
An election of firsts in Jammu and Kashmir is set to see another - a woman Kashmiri Pandit will be contesting the Assembly polls for the first time in three decades. Daisy Raina, who used to work at a private company in Delhi and has been a sarpanch in Jammu and Kashmir, is the lone candidate fielded by the Republican Party of India (Athawale), which is an ally of the BJP as part of the NDA alliance.
Ms Raina, who will be contesting from the Rajpora Assembly constituency in Pulwama and is one of only nine women contesting the J&K polls, said she decided to take the plunge because she was forced to do so by youth, who wanted her to be their voice.
"The youth forced me to contest and asked me to ensure that their voice reaches the J&K Assembly. I was working here as a sarpanch and, on the side, I would meet young people, hear them out and try and understand their problems. Our youth have been suffering despite not being guilty of anything. Young people born in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1990s have seen only bullets," Ms Raina told NDTV in Hindi.
