The CPM has given Kerala its youngest village panchayat president, days after picking the state’s youngest mayor.

Reshma Mariam Roy, who turned 21 just a day before she filed her nomination papers on November 19, will head the Aruvappulam village panchayat in Pathanamthitta district.

On Friday, the party had chosen Arya Rajendran, a 21-year-old BSc mathematics student, as mayor of Thiruvananthapuram. Twenty-one is the minimum age to contest elections. Reshma, a graduate in business administration from V.N.S. College in Konni, Pathanamthitta, won from the Congress stronghold of Ward 11.

The Left Democratic Front has won the panchayat after two decades, having lost to the Congress-led United Democratic Front by one seat in 2015.

“I’d like to be known as the best panchayat president and not just the youngest,” Reshma told The Telegraph on Sunday, trying to shift the focus from her feat to the challenge ahead.

She said she had never expected to be made panchayat president. “I have already said that I was surprised when my party asked me to contest the elections. Now I’m doubly surprised,” she said.

“This is a massive recognition for the youth. The LDF has won this panchayat after 20 years. This places added responsibility on us — we have to meet the expectations of the people who elected us.”

Reshma, who takes charge on Wednesday, has already done her homework on what she needs to do.

“New road projects have to be taken up. We need new anganwadis (child care centres) and enhance all the basic amenities,” she said.

She has plans for herself too: “I will continue my studies through distance education. I’m confident about taking it forward.”