Chandrani Murmu, 25
BJD, Keonjhar
India’s youngest parliamentarian can’t wait to get to Delhi and see her new workplace. “I have only seen photos of Parliament House. I’m eager to soak in the air,” says Chandrani Murmu, days before she sets off for Delhi.
Murmu won from Keonjhar in Odisha as a BJD candidate, defeating two-time former MP and BJP candidate Ananta Nayak.
The journey from being a 2017 BTech graduate to becoming the youngest parliamentarian has been full of unexpected turns. It was her maternal uncle Harmohan Soren, a social worker, who told her that the party was looking for a young and educated woman to represent Keonjhar, an ST reserved constituency. “I was initially hesitant, but my parents were very excited,” says Murmu, the youngest of three sisters.
Her family, however, is not new to politics — her maternal grandfather, the late Harihar Soren, was a Congress MP in 1980 and 1984.
Murmu hopes to visit her constituency regularly to know its problems. On her list of priority projects are a railway line to connect the mineral-rich region to the port area of Dhamra, and a steel plant in Keonjhar. “These will create jobs,” she says.
Her new role comes with minor irritants though, says Murmu, among them people requesting her for selfies and relatives pestering her to marry. “Right now, my priority is work,” says Murmu.
—Alaka Sahani