CHIKMAGALUR: It was not so easy for a dalit woman, who worked as a sub-registrar, to jump into the political arena and make it to the top echelons of the Congress party, become a CWC member and have clout with none other than the then Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi.
Motamma from Mudigere proved that a dalit woman politician could also rule the roost. She served as minister, opposition leader in the Council and MADB chairperson and was instrumental in forming women groups under the women’s empowerment scheme.
After her successive defeats, she stepped away from the limelight and ventured into writing her autobiography titled ‘Bidiru, Neenyarigalladavalu’, literally translated as ‘Oh Bamboo, who discards you?
Former CM SM Krishna released the book recently in Bengaluru. It is interesting to note that in the book, she has expressed displeasure about Congress leaders who she claims were responsible for “silencing” her voice and making her almost a political non-entity .
Motamma, in the book, expressed her dissatisfaction towards leaders, including former CM Siddaramaiah, for depriving her the opportunity of becoming a minister and a speaker in the Assembly. “None of the leaders in the party has any far-sighted thinking on strengthening the party. All behave cordially on the stage but off the stage they pay more attention to their own personal gains. Siddaramaiah blocked all opportunities for me to grow in politics permanently,” she has written.