Mayank Chhaya-
In September, eighteen-year-old high school senior Shiva Rajbhandari shook things up at the Boise, Idaho school board by defeating an incumbent 47-year-old trustee on a platform remarkably liberal for the state.
What was even more remarkable was that Shiva triumphed over his opponent Steve Schmidt, a Republican who had refused to disavow his endorsement by the far-right extremist group Idaho Liberty Dogs.
In a delightful irony, Shiva was not even voting age when he first decided to take on Schmidt with his all-round progressive ideas about climate change, LGBTQ rights, gender politics and books.
Shiva, whose father is Hindu of Nepali origin and mother Methodist from Utah, spoke to Mayank Chhaya Reports to talk about what it means to be an unapologetic progressive in a city and state that is often determinedly not.
