<p>The Congress on Tuesday appointed transgender activist Apsara Reddy as a national general secretary of the Mahila Congress, making her the 134-year-old party's first transgender office-bearer.</p>.<p>Apsara joined the Congress in presence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev.</p>.<p>As a transgender woman, Apsara has been involved in social activism through her college days and later joined the BJP, a party she quit within a month dubbing it as “regressive.”</p>.<p>She later joined the AIADMK in 2016 with the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa appointing her as the spokesperson of the party.</p>.<p>“The Congress is truly a party that built India and sustained us for generations with good policy and a sensitive and inclusive approach in governance,” Apsara said when asked about reasons for joining the grand old party.</p>.<p>Apsara plans to work towards strengthening the Congress at the grassroot level in Tamil Nadu.</p>.<p>“I will meet with a cross-section of women to address issues pertaining to their rights. This coming election, I will campaign vociferously against the fascist BJP dictatorship that drives a coloured agenda which reduces people to what they eat, how they pray and how they love,” she said.</p>
<p>The Congress on Tuesday appointed transgender activist Apsara Reddy as a national general secretary of the Mahila Congress, making her the 134-year-old party's first transgender office-bearer.</p>.<p>Apsara joined the Congress in presence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev.</p>.<p>As a transgender woman, Apsara has been involved in social activism through her college days and later joined the BJP, a party she quit within a month dubbing it as “regressive.”</p>.<p>She later joined the AIADMK in 2016 with the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa appointing her as the spokesperson of the party.</p>.<p>“The Congress is truly a party that built India and sustained us for generations with good policy and a sensitive and inclusive approach in governance,” Apsara said when asked about reasons for joining the grand old party.</p>.<p>Apsara plans to work towards strengthening the Congress at the grassroot level in Tamil Nadu.</p>.<p>“I will meet with a cross-section of women to address issues pertaining to their rights. This coming election, I will campaign vociferously against the fascist BJP dictatorship that drives a coloured agenda which reduces people to what they eat, how they pray and how they love,” she said.</p>
