Chennupati Vidya (5 June 1934 – 18 August 2018) was an Indian politician and social worker. She was twice elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

in 1980 and 1989 from

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...

constituency on an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

ticket. G. Lavanam and G. Samaram are her brothers.

Biography

She was the daughter of famous atheist

Goparaju Ramachandra Rao Goparaju Ramachandra Rao (nickname: Gora) (15 November 1902 – 26 July 1975) was an Indian social reformer, atheist activist and a participant in the Indian independence movement. He authored many books on atheism and proposed atheism as self- ...

, better known as ''Gora'', and of his wife

Saraswathi Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati. The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a god ...

. She was born in

Vizianagram Vizianagaram is a city and the headquarters of Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is central Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapatnam. The city has a population of 228,02 ...

in today's

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

on 5 June 1934 and was educated at

Andhra University Andhra University (IAST: ''Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat'') is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the biggest do ...

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...

. In 1950, she married Chennupati Seshagiri Rao (1921–2008). She had one son and three daughters. From 1969 she was the president of the Vasavya Mahila Mandali, an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

dedicated to the empowerment of women and children in Andhra Pradesh. She was elected to the

7th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 7th Lok Sabha, (18 January 1980 – 31 December 1984) elected December 1979 – January 1980. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India nine sitting members from Rajya Sabha were el ...

in 1980 from

constituency on an

ticket. She was reelected in 1989 to the

9th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 9th Lok Sabha (2 December 1989 – 13 March 1991) elections in 22–26 November 1989. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India. Twelve sitting members from Rajya Sabha were electe ...

from the same constituency. She was President of Andhra Pradesh Kho-kho Association and associated with Rotary Movement and

Lions Club The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , ...

. She died in Vijayawada on 18 August 2018.

Awards and recognition

* 2014:

Jamnalal Bajaj Award Jamnalal Bajaj Award is an Indian award, for promoting Gandhian values, community service and social development. Established in 1978, by the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation of Bajaj Group, it is given annually in four categories, and usually presented ...

under "Development and welfare of women and children" category. * Aadarsa Manya Mahila (''Ideal Woman'') in the Telugu Book of Record.Decades of Selfless Social Service

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidya, Chennupati 1934 births 2018 deaths India MPs 1980–1984 Indian National Congress politicians from Andhra Pradesh India MPs 1989–1991 Women in Andhra Pradesh politics People from Vizianagaram Lok Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh Telugu politicians 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians