Takella N. Sadalakshmi: The first Dalit woman legislator from Andhra Pradesh
This post was written for Dalit History Month by Ashwini KP and is part of a larger series of articles that are being collated for an arts, history and culture research project called Bahujanpedia.
“I am not inferior to you in anything for that matter. My caste is not lower than your caste. My caste has fought with Brahma. Jambavamthudu has fought with Brahma — that is my caste. We don’t have any intention to compromise with you.”
“I can bear any sort of humiliation and pain for my community. I have a lot of strength to swim any length of sea.”
Today, in #DalitHistoryMonth, we celebrate the legacy of Takella N. Sadalakshmi, the first female Dalit legislator from Telangana. A staunch Ambedkarite, Sadalakshmi left an impeccable mark in the history of South Indian politics.
Andhra Pradesh at the time of independence was beginning to see a galaxy of Dalit leaders and politics among which Sadalakshmi’s name stands out.
She was born in 1928 in Hyderabad and belonged to the Mehtar community which is one of the sub-castes of the Madiga community. She studied at Keyes High School where she received the Vidya Merit Scholarship in 1940. She had just begun her course in medicine in Madras when she heard Babasaheb Ambedkar deliver a speech at Jeera Compound. Totally inspired by his power, she decided then to give up medicine and actively engage in politics. Ambedkar’s speech drastically changed her thinking and influenced her to join politics and social movements.
Sadhalakshmi received immense support from her family. Arige Ramasamy, Mudigonda Laxmaiah and Puli Narasimhulu were the prominent Dalit leaders who educated and guided Sadalakshmi in her childhood. Most of these leaders were inspired by Gandhian ideas. However, Sadalaksmi maintained a close relationship with movements led by both Ambedkar and Jagjeevan Ram.
Immediately after independence, she contested in the 1952 general election and was elected to state assembly from Peddapalli reserved constituency. Later, she also served as a Deputy Speaker, Social Welfare Minister and Minister of Religious and Charitable Endowments. She was the first Dalit women Minister in the history of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Dalits as priests campaign
During her tenure as Minister of Religious and Charitable Endowments, she started training centres for Dalits to become Hindu priests. With the existence of rampant untouchability and caste discrimination then, it was a period when temple entry movements gained significant prominence.
At a time when Dalits were prohibited from entering the temple, her decision to reform the endowment trusts with the inclusion of Dalits as priests was seen by some as extremely radical. Since the temples were one of the institutions to practice untouchability, she decided to nominate at least one woman and Dalit into temple trusts as members.
Telangana Movement and MRPS
Sadalakshmi played a crucial role in the fight for the separate Telangana movement and also became one of the prominent leaders in Madiga Dandora Samithi, which became one of the prominent organizations that demanded the sub-categorization of Reservation (Affirmative Action) within Dalits. She actively engaged in the Telangana movement by mobilising women into the movement. Asserting the identity of women and marginalized, she gave a slogan “Women warriors, arise to speak up.”
Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (Madiga Reservation struggle committee) was formed under the leadership of Sadalakshmi. She also played a prominent role in promoting young leaders in Dandora movements like Manda Krishna Madiga and Krupakar.
Owing to cardiac complications, she breathed her last on 24th July 2004.
Sadalakshmi is one of the few Dalit leaders who broke the gender, caste and also the sub-caste ceilings. Hailing from one of the most marginalized castes within Dalits, she has not only altered the political discourse but also created a space to understand Dalit feminists issues in a multi-layered approach. With her extraordinary political stature and understanding of caste and exclusion, She played a prominent role both in Andhra Pradesh politics and Dalit movement.
Today, we honour Sadalakshmi for her contribution that has facilitated the Dalit community to evolve socially, economically and politically. Sadalakshmi will always be remembered for her leadership and feminist approach that transformed Dalit politics.
References:
https://www.thehindu.com/2004/07/25/stories/2004072506550300.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._N._Sadalakshmi
Gogu Shyalama, Nene Balanni (T N SadaLakshmi Batuku Katha, Hyderabad Book Trust, 2014.
Kiran Kumar Boddu, Women in Activism, Assertion, and Empowerment: A Study of T. N Sadalakshmi’s Biography Nene Balaani (I am Strength), Vol. II & Issue V (December- 2017).
