During the Lok Sabha campaign in a remote part of Bihar’s Samastipur constituency, Shambhavi Choudhary, 25, spoke to an elderly woman, who said that she had never met a candidate or an MP in her life. And now that she had met one, she would happily get to the pearly gates, she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. It was an overwhelming experience for young Choudhary, who is also pursuing a PhD on the low representation of women in politics. Her candidature caught nationwide attention when Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought votes for the youngest dalit candidate in the fray.
Daughter of Bihar minister Ashok Choudhary, she was elected on a Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) ticket. “Though I come from a privileged background, I have seen discrimination,” she said. When not busy handling the family-run girls' school in Patna, she loves to play with her three dogs, all rescued from the streets. “I love animals and I also work for them.” She enjoys baking as well and ends her day reading. An alumna of Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram College and the Delhi School of Economics, Choudhary is the youngest MP in this Lok Sabha.