MUMBAI (Maharashtra, India): Maya Ivnate, a former mayor of the Indian city of Nagpur and a senior municipal councilor, has made history by becoming the first tribal woman from the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state to enter the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the India Parliament.
Ivnate was formally declared elected by election officials in the state capital Mumbai on Monday. She was among the seven candidates to be declared elected, all of them unopposed. She has become only the second woman ever from the region to enter the Rajya Sabha after Saroj Khaparde.
There were seven vacancies from Maharashtra and only seven candidates filed their nominations till the deadline for submitting papers. Their election was a mere formality.
Ivnate is a senior councilor who has been elected to the general body of Nagpur Municipal Corporation, the local civic body, several times, including at the latest elections held in January 2026. Her journey from a grassroots level worker to the country’s parliament is seen as a significant moment for tribal representation from Vidarbha at the national level. She has earlier served as a member of the National Commissioner for Scheduled Tribes, India’s federal body for tribal communities in the country.
The Rajya Sabha is the Council of the States in the bicameral Indian Parliament, with representatives being elected every six years from different states in the country. Each state can elect a certain number of members, which depends on the population of that state. The members are elected indirectly, through voting by members of the legislature of each state. The other house of the Indian Parliament is the Lok Sabha, or the House of the People, whose members are elected directly by the people every five years.
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