Hyderabad: Life has come full circle for Maoist-turned-MLA Danasari Anasuya aka Seethakka after she completed her Ph.D. in political science from Osmania University.
Seethakka took to Twitter to declare that she has completed her Ph.D. from Osmania University.
The 50-year-old tribal MLA did her Ph.D. in social exclusion and deprivation of migrant tribals of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh – a case study of Gotti Koya tribes in Warangal and Khammam district.
“In my childhood, I never thought I would be a Naxalite (Maoist), when I am Naxalite, I never thought I would be a lawyer, when I am a lawyer, I never thought I would be MLA, when I am MLA I never thought I will pursue my Ph.D. Now you can call me Dr. Anusuya Seethakka Ph.D. in political science,” wrote Seethakka, MLA from Mulugu.
“Serving people & gaining knowledge is my habit. I will never stop doing it until my last breath,” she said.
She thanked her Ph.D. guide Prof. T Tirupathi Rao, former Vice Chancellor of Osmania University, HOD Prof Musalaia, Prof Ashok Naidu, and Prof Chandru Nayak.
According To Siasat, she belongs to the Koya tribe and had joined the Maoist movement at an early age and was heading an armed squad active in the same tribal belt. She participated in many gunfights with the police and lost her husband and brother in encounters.
Disillusioned with the movement, she surrendered to the police under a general amnesty plan in 1994, Siasat said. With this, life took a new turn for Seethakka, who pursued her studies and secured a law degree. She also practiced as an advocate at a court in Warangal.
She later joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and contested from Mulug in the 2004 elections. However, facing a Congress wave, she finished runner-up. However, in 2009, she won the election from the same constituency.
She finished third in the 2014 polls and in 2017, quit the TDP to join Congress. She made a strong comeback in 2018 by wresting the seat despite the statewide sweep by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
Seethakka hit the headlines with her humanitarian work in remote villages in her constituency during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Carrying a load of essentials on her shoulders, she walked through the forests, and rocky terrain and crossed rivulets to help the needy during the ongoing lockdown.