I don’t follow politics too much but this is the news which can set future precedence for political candidacy in India. The Southern Indian State Karnataka got its first vegan MLA in the history.
35 year old Sowmya Reddy is the youngest MLA in the house. She is the only woman MLA in the current Legislative Assembly. Sowmya is the daughter of a former State minister. This is also first time in the history of the state that a father-daughter duo would be on the floor.
Sowmya is a long time vegan activist and an environmentalist. I came to know about her when in December, 2015 she chose to organize a completely vegan and zero-waste wedding with her vegan partner. She employed 150 staff members of a local NGO named Hasiru Dala to collect and segregate wet and dry waste at source for her wedding function. With no animal products being used, there was also no place for plastic items. Even guests were requested to not to wear any silk, leather or wool for the ceremony.
She played a key role to persuade the previous government to put a plastic ban in Bagaluru. She wants to continue her mission as an environmentalist and as a vegan. She says:
“We have to go back to the basics… cloth bags, carrying a steel bottle in our cars or bags… that’s how the previous generations used to live. Though it will take some effort, it’s a choice I think we all need to make to fulfil our civic responsibility. We have to think about where that waste goes from our dustbins. All of it adds to the non-biodegradable waste pile.”
Sowmya does all of the above – carrying a cloth bag with steel spoons and a mug for her coffee so that she can avoid using disposables. May be, she can inspire citizens to immolate the same. She also wants to persuade restaurants to use steel cutleries instead of disposables or at least use recyclable paper straw instead of a plastic one.
Sowmya is an environmental engineer trained in the USA. Previously, she was also a member of AWBI (Animal Welfare Board of India) for 3 years. She has announced several initiatives for her constituency to make it the best planned neighbourhood of asia. That’s the opening line of her election manifesto.
I’ll be eagerly following the progress in her constituency.
References:
1, 2, 3