21-year-old College student Arya Rajendran becomes India’s youngest mayor in Kerala

Arya Rajendran, the 21-year-old student who successfully contested the recent civic polls in Kerala, has been officially proposed as next Mayor of state capital Thiruvananthapuram, by her party, CPI(M), today. The party has won majority in the corporation.

Ms Rajendran is set to be the new Mayor of Thiruvanathapuram Corporation, making her the youngest Mayor in the state.

Ms Rajendran, a BSc Maths second year student at the All Saints college, had won from the Mudavanmughal ward of the city corporation, bagging 2,872 votes, 549 more than the rival Congress candidate. Thiruvananthapuram Mayor K Sreekumar (CPI-M), had suffered a shock defeat in the polls.

It was also the first time she could cast her vote in the local body election due to her age. Rajendran is a state committee member of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and also the state president of Balasangam, the children’s wing of the Left party.

Men and women and little children waited outside their houses, and in a street in Kunjalamoodu, party members stood to receive Arya on Saturday evening. “Both her parents have been party members for long. Her father is an electrician and her mother an LIC agent,” says a member of the party, holding the red flag of the CPI(M).

LDF won majority of 53 of the 100 seats in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, followed by NDA. Congress led UDF was again pushed to a third here.

Incidently, this was also the first time Ms Rajendran could exercise her vote in the local body elections due to her age.