Bhagwati Devi (6 November 1936) was a political and social worker and a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

elected from the

Gaya district } Gaya district is one of the thirty-eight districts of the Indian state of Bihar. It was officially established on 3 October 1865. The district has a common boundary with the state of Jharkhand to the south. Gaya city is both the district head ...

constituency in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

being a

Janta Dal United Janata Dal (United) ("People’s Party (United)”) abbreviated as JD(U) is an Indian political party with political presence mainly in eastern and north-eastern India. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar , Arunachal Pra ...

candidate.

Early life

Bhagwati Devi was born on 6 November 1936 in village Mithaiya which comes under

Aurangabad Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is th ...

district in

. Bhagwati is the daughter of a

Musahar Musahar or Mushahar are a Dalit community found in the eastern Gangetic plain and the Terai. They are also known as ''Banbasi''.The other names of the Musahar are Bhuiyan and Rajawar Their name literally means 'rat-eater' due to their main form ...

(literally 'rat-eater' or rat-catcher) community.

Career

She became a Member of the

Bihar Legislative Assembly The Bihar Legislative Assembly, also known as the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of the Bihar Legislature where the first elections were held in 1952. The total strength of membership in the Assembly was 331, including one nominated m ...

in 1969. During 1995–96, she served as— * Member of various Committees, Bihar Legislative Assembly * Member, Committee on Electricity Board, Bihar She was elected to the 11th Lok Sabha in 1996.

Special Interests And Social Activities

She works towards the upliftment of the downtrodden and weaker sections of society. She has also contributed towards the welfare of women and struggle for social justice. She also devotes personal time to Satsangs.

Other information

Bhagwati participated in the freedom struggle and was imprisoned a number of times for participating in political agitations. She has held various position in

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as w ...

and Janata Dal. She has been associated with

Ram Manohar Lohia Ram Manohar Lohia ; (23 March 1910 – 12 October 1967) was an activist in the Indian independence movement and a socialist political leader. During the last phase of British rule in India, he worked with the Congress Radio which was broadcast s ...

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...

and

Karpoori Thakur Karpoori Thakur (24 January 1924 – 17 February 1988) was an Indian politician from the Bihar state. He was popularly known as Jan Nayak (Hindi for people's hero). He served as the Chief Minister of Bihar from December 1970 to June 1971 (Socia ...

. Her biography titled "Dharati ki Beti" is written by Ram Pyare Singh.

References

India MPs 1996–1997 Lok Sabha members from Bihar Articles created or expanded during Women's History Month (India) - 2014 People from Aurangabad district, Bihar 1936 births Living people Women in Bihar politics Janata Dal (United) politicians Samajwadi Party politicians Janata Dal politicians 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians Women members of the Lok Sabha {{Bihar-JDU-politician-stub