Lucknow, Nov. 26 :    Lucknow, Nov. 26:  It was a resounding snub to the parties of ordinary men and women. Ashadevi, a eunuch, was elected mayor of Gorakhpur by a huge margin of 65,304 votes. All rivals, including the BJP and Congress candidates, had to forfeit their deposits. Traditional Varanasi, too, followed in Gorakhpur's footsteps, electing its first eunuch councillor, belying rumours that voters would not deviate from their 'sanskriti'. Ashadevi had contested the election as an Independent as no party had been willing to support a eunuch, but the 35-year-old pooled more votes than all others put together. 'I am the chosen one. Now it is clear to me that God has sent me here with a purpose. I will not let anybody down,' said a triumphant Ashadevi over phone from Gorakhpur. 'Humanity is my only party,' Ashadevi added. By voting for a person from a community reviled for centuries, an outsider, the electorate has made clear its deep disenchantment with political parties. 'This is what happens when leaders sit around clapping their hands like hijras. People get fed up some day and actually choose one,' said a BJP activist from Gorakhpur. The Gorakhpur verdict has shaken Uttar Pradesh chief minister Rajnath Singh. 'The BJP has learnt its lesson. It is our responsibility to see that this kind of situation does not arise again,' he said. But the 'third sex' seems to be a growing force in politics. Today's twin triumphs follow the recent election of a eunuch to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly. Shabnam Mausi, the MLA, had pitched in by campaigning for Ashadevi in Gorakhpur. Soon after the election of the new mayor, two other eunuchs from Gorakhpur, Barkhadevi and Khusboorani, decided to contest the Assembly polls. Ashadevi has issued a clarion call to eunuchs. 'It is time to come out of the shadows and widen their field of action from marriage ceremonies to politics, sports and even show business.' Referring to the recent fashion show in which five eunuchs sashayed down the ramp with some of India's top models, Ashadevi said: 'Given a chance, there is nothing we can't do.' In Varanasi, Kallu won from the Jalalipura ward on a Samajwadi Party ticket. A month before the elections, Kallu had been confident of success. 'The world will soon realise that a eunuch can do much more than dance around and clap. It's time to make a difference to our lives and that of other unfortunate beings like us.'