Lalu, a 27-year-old speech and hearing-impaired man in Dansari village panchayat of Madhya Pradesh, is on course to become the first deaf and mute sarpanch of the country.
With a population of around 1000, Dansari village is located about 40 km from Indore city and the status of gram panchayat was given recently.
The sarpanch’s post has been reserved for candidates belonging to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category and villagers say that Lalu’s election is almost certain as he is the only ST candidate.
The dates for the gram panchayat polls are yet to be announced.
Lalu’s parents died when he was a child and he has been living in the village since the last 20 years and he is a farmer by profession.
If elected, Lalu wants to work for the welfare of farmers.
He also wishes to contribute to development by getting new roads constructed in the village.
“Lalu’s victory will give voice to the voiceless,” said a number of his supporters.