Dalit woman SHG member scripts history, gets elected unopposed as Sarpanch

Waghmare Gangu Bai, newly elected sarpanch of bizzalwadi village in jukkal mandal of kamareddy district | Photo credit: special arrangement

HYDERABAD

Forty-year-old Waghmare Gangubai, an active Self Help Group (SHG) member from Bizzalwadi village of the backward Jukkal mandal in Kamareddy, has scripted history by becoming the first Sarpanch from the Dalit community to get elected unopposed from a general seat.

Tucked away 190 km from the State Capital and 112 km from the district headquarters town of Kamareddy, Bizzalwadi, a Gram Panchayat borders Maharashtra. The village with 931 voters has just 230 Dalits, while the others are dominant Marathas, Hatkars and Lingayaths with a sprinkle of Muslims, Gouds and other Backward Classes.

In this village, Marathas are dominant residents who decided the fate of the elected representatives.

Congress MLA from Jukkal Thota Laxmikantha Rao told The Hindu on Thursday that the village is dominated by Marathas and majority of the farm lands are owned by them. “I wanted to bring a new level of confidence in them. I planned this experiment and held several village sabhas and educated both SCs as well as the upper castes to give a chance to a deserving SC person to create a model for other to emulate,” he said.

The idea struck and Bizzalwadi saw its first women Dalit Sarpanch elected unopposed from a general category seat. “The Dalit residents of the village stated that electing a Dalit as Sarpanch in a General category seat reflects the commitment of the villagers towards social justice and harmony,” the MLA remarked.

Ms. Gangubai, who had no formal education, is still to come to terms with her new found position. Her only exposure to the outside world is as member of the village SHG. She broke down when her name was declared as the Sarpanch. “This something I have never ever expected in my life. I have been helping ladies in their deliveries, taking them to Nurse and to hospital all these years but, I never thought I will become a Sarpanch one day,” she said.

The Jukkal MLA said that in this constituency, as many as 25 candidates supported by the ruling party have been elected unopposed as Sarpanches. He credited the MLA stating that this remarkable achievement was possible due to the development and welfare programmes of the Revanth Reddy led Congress government.

Mr. Laxmi Kantha Rao said he made sure a deserving candidate from poor and marginalised communities also got an opportunity to contest from the general seats. “The response was mixed. Not all of them appreciated, but I was able to bring them together and convince,” he added.

He announced that the unanimously elected gram panchayats would receive the government-announced ₹10 lakh grant, along with additional funds from the MLA fund, to ensure their comprehensive development. He also appealed to voters to elect the Congress-supported candidates contesting in the elections with a huge majority.