Know Your MLA: Living proof of ‘ballot’ more powerful than ‘bullet’

Warangal: As an Adivasi teenager, she believed in the ‘bullet’ to bring justice to the suppressed sections. As she grew, her thoughts changed and trusted that ‘ballot’ was the way ahead to stand up for the rights of the underprivileged. She is none other than Danasari Anasuya aka Seethakka.

She began her political life with the Telugu Desam in 2004. However, she lost her first election that year. She made her maiden entry into the Assembly in 2009. The ascendancy of the TRS (now BRS) in separate Telangana forced her to switch over to Congress in 2017 and become an MLA again in 2018 and 2023. Perhaps, she is the only people’s representative in the State who braved to reach out to the Adivasis living in the far corners of the forest in her constituency and feed them when the COVID-19 pandemic was wreaking havoc. Trekking and carrying loads of essentials is no easy task. However, the 53-year-old roamed extensively in the hilly forest areas, carrying loads of essentials on her head to distributing them to the Adivasis whose livelihood was affected by the pandemic. It was a testimony to her grit and determination.

The return of Congress to power after a decade saw Seethakka, who is said to be the trusted lieutenant of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, inducted into the State Cabinet. She holds the portfolio of Panchayati Raj & Rural Development, Rural Water Supply, Women and Child Welfare. Seethakka’s active participation in the recent flood rescue operations indicates that her motive to serve the less fortunate didn’t change even after her elevation to the rank of a Minister.

“The sole agenda I have is to develop the Tribal communities on par with the developed sections and serve the less fortunate,” Seethakka says. Seethakka, born as Danasari Anasuya to Adivasi Koya couple Sammakka and Sammaiah at Jaggannapet village in Mulugu district on July 9, 1971, joined the Janashakti Naxal group in 1987. She returned to the mainstream life in 1997. She did her post graduation in Political Science and also completed her PhD.