HARIPUR, Oct 3: Pervez Akhtar Tanoli alias Baby, a transvestite, is among the contenders seeking to bag a seat reserved for peasant workers in tehsil council of Haripur. Thirty candidates are in the run for two reserved seats, including Baby.
But this is not the transvestite’s debut in politics as he has previously served as general councillor from union council Haripur North.
He was among the few winners who had bagged record number of votes in Haripur during the last elections.
This time, however, he has chosen to contest for the tehsil council instead of union council where he believes he could not serve the people the way he wanted.
“I want to remind voters how elected members had duped them and served their own interest,” he said, adding that a transvestite could serve people better than an ordinary member.
“For whose sake should I accept commission or indulge in corruption?” he queried. “I have nobody back home - no son, no daughter. Then why should I amass money,” he said with compelling logic.
He said he treated everyone in his constituency as his family member and wanted to do something for their welfare.
Baby, who has a reputation of helping widows and orphan girls at the time of marriage, claims that during his stint as union councillor, he not only spent his share of funds, but also received extra funds for uplift schemes from other members on his personal contacts.
He said he got streets of his ward paved and water supply network extended. This work could be compared with those of others.
Replying to a question, Baby said that since funds with UCs were limited, he had decided to stand for the post of tehsil councillor.
He said the multitude of problems in the localities suggested that male members of all the three tiers of the local government system had miserably failed to deliver goods. So this is a wake-up call for voters who must elect an honest and true representative, irrespective of gender, cast and creed.
He tells his electors that although he is a transvestite, his lineage is respectable as he belongs to the Tanoli tribe. His message is that if the voters want to get their problems solved, they should elect him by stamping on drum — his election symbol.