Sushila Devi was just a Class 5 student when she married Yogendra Ram, a landless farm labourer in Dilawarpur Goverdhan village, Vaishali district, Bihar. Three-and-a-half decades later, the gritty woman has served a five-year term as the mukhiya of her panchayat and is a committed grassroots worker of the RJD.
Sushila, who belongs to the Ravidas caste, used to be part of the Bihar Dalit Vikas Samiti, a voluntary organisation working with marginalised communities in Bihar. 바카라I joined the organisation at a monthly stipend of Rs 50 and worked in as many as 16 districts to educate poor women,바카라 she recalls. In 2006, she returned to her village to contest the panchayat elections, but lost by one vote. Five years later, she bounced back by winning with a margin of 2,216 votes. 바카라I was elected a mukhiya and had the support of all communities,바카라 she declares.
It was her dedication to the empowerment of poor women which endeared her to locals as well as RJD leaders. She is now ready to shoulder any responsibility that the party gives her. But it wasn바카라t an easy journey. Members of her caste ostracised her family when she continued studying after marriage. 바카라They boycotted us, but my husband worked hard to ensure my education up to matriculation,바카라 she says. 바카라I owe it all to him.바카라
Sushila is currently canvassing for Shiv Chandra Ram, the RJD candidate for the Hajipur constituency and a former minister in the Bihar government. He is pitted against Pashupati Kumar Paras, the younger brother of LJP president, Ram Vilas Paswan. Reserved for Scheduled Castes, Hajipur is regarded as Paswan바카라s pocket borough. But that doesn바카라t deter Sushila, who spends her days mobilising support for the party nominee through various self-help groups. Her village falls under the Raghopur assembly constituency, which Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, the RJD heir apparent, currently represents.
바카라Poor people get sammaan (honour) and izzat (respect) in RJD and that바카라s why I have chosen to support it,바카라 she explains. 바카라Besides, the party candidate (Ram) is a grassroots worker and is always there for us when we need him. He does not skip a single social event in our village. Even Tejashwiji comes to our village.바카라
Despite her political achievements, her family바카라s economic situation remains bleak. Sushila바카라s husband continues to labour in fields as a sharecropper to make ends meet. 바카라Both my sons are still unemployed. One of them is a graduate. I have also educated my three daughters well, but they don바카라t have jobs either,바카라 she laments. 바카라I hope our 바카라achhe din바카라 come after the polls.바카라
