Bhagyavathi was the first MPP and ZPTC of Kathalapur mandal of Jagtial district.
Warangal, Karimnagar: Amballa Bhagyavathi, the first woman sarpanch of Bhushanraopet, reflected on the difference in campaigning in the past and the canvassing for elections now. Bhagyavathi, who won as sarpanch in 1981, said that election expenses were virtually non-existent then, contrasting sharply with the lakhs of rupees needed to campaign now.
Bhagyavathi was also the first MPP and ZPTC of Kathalapur mandal of Jagtial district. She said that when she contested the sarpanch post in 1981, she was the only woman among eight male candidates. She recalled facing questions from the public about why women were entering politics. Her victory left the astonished, she said.
Bhagyavathi stressed that during that era, voters focused on the candidate’s complete background and voluntarily cast their votes. Public representatives were held to a higher standard of accountability.
The political journey of Shivunipally from setting an example to vanishing from the map, is entirely different. In the previous round, the village joint action committee (JAC) boycotted the polls, resulting in zero nominations for the sarpanch post.
One Burla Vishnu was the only person who went against the JAC and filed a nomination for the eighth ward. The JAC was forced to put up a candidate, but lost to Vishnu.
Vishnu then filed a petition in the High Court, arguing that as the only elected public representative of Shivunipally, he should be declared sarpanch. Following the court’s order, he served the final 54 days of the term as sarpanch role.
The panchayat does not exist now. It was merged into the Station Ghanpur municipality.
These two separate incidents underscore a broader trend that rural governance is becoming more formalized and expensive. While Shivunipally’s political life was absorbed by urbanization, leaders like Bhagyvathi confirm that the simple, low-cost political environment of the 1980s has been replaced by a modern system where winning elections often requires investing lakhs of rupees, fundamentally altering the nature of democracy at the grassroots level.
