Sushila Ganesh Mavalankar (4 August 1904 – 11 December 1995) was an Indian freedom fighter. She was elected to the

1st Lok Sabha The First Lok Sabha was constituted on 17 April 1952 after India's first general election. The 1st Lok Sabha lasted its full tenure of five years and was dissolved on 4 April 1957. The First Session of this Lok Sabha commenced on 13 May 1952. ...

unopposed from

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

in 1956.

Early life

Daughter to Ramakrishna Gopinath Gurjar Date, Sushila was born on 4 August 1904 in the

Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created at the time of India's Independence, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Presidency (roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Maharashtra, excluding Sou ...

and did her schooling to the under- metric level.

Career

Mavalankar took active part in the

Indian Independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

and on the call of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

participated in the

Quit India Movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

in 1942, which led to her imprisonment by the British authorities. She attended the

coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...

held in June 1953. The death of Ganesh Mavalankar in February 1956 prompted a bye-election for the

seat. The INC fielded Sushila Mavalankar (his wife) and she was elected unopposed to the

. Her term finished the following year. She also served as the president of Bhagini Samaj and was a member of numerous social organisations.

Personal life

Sushila married

Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar (27 November 1888 – 27 February 1956) popularly known as ''Dadasaheb'' was an independence activist, the President (from 1946 to 1947) of the Central Legislative Assembly, then Speaker of the Constituent Assembly of I ...

in March 1921, from whom she had four sons. Ganesh Mavalankar became of the first

speaker of the Lok Sabha The speaker of the Lok Sabha (IAST: ) is the presiding officer and the highest official of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. The speaker is elected generally in the first meeting of the Lok Sabha following general el ...

. She died in Ahmedabad on 11 December 1995. Their son

Purushottam Mavalankar Purushottam Ganesh Mavalankar (3 August 1928, Ahmedabad – 14 March 2002, Ahmedabad) was an Indian political scientist, educationist, and an independent Member of Parliament for two consecutive terms. Mavalankar was son of the first spea ...

was also a parliamentarian.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mavalankar, Sushila Ganesh 1904 births 1995 deaths India MPs 1952–1957 Women members of the Lok Sabha Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra Prisoners and detainees of British India Marathi people Politicians from Ahmedabad 20th-century Indian women 20th-century Indian people