VILLUPURAM: Entering politics after more than a decade of family life, 37-year-old S Sheeladevi, Villupuram’s first woman district panchayat vice chairperson, wants to dedicate her political life for the welfare of rural women. Sheeladevi was elected District Panchayat Ward Member from ward 10 (SC-Women) of Marakanam block in the recently concluded rural local body elections.
She was proposed as a candidate for the vice-chairperson post by the DMK and the VCK. “The victory is not mine, it belongs to the party and the ideals of Dalit movement spearheaded by Dr BR Ambedkar. Those ideals had rung well among the voters of Villupuram,” said Sheela. She is now focused on improving the lives of rural women in Villupuram through education and employment.
“I am planning to bring specially structured employment opportunities for rural women by identifying the resources they can easily obtain from this region,” she said. What’s more, Sheela stressed she wants to transform rural households in the district with more graduates. “Every child of a family must go to college, as education is the fuel of social reformation,” she said.
A graduate of Tamil literature from the Queen Mary’s College and a native of Chennai, Sheela moved to Tindivanam 17 years ago, after marrying VCK district secretary Cheran. Since then, she said, politics became a part of her life. She recalled an incident during the 2006 Assembly elections wherein her husband was allegedly threatened with death by opponent party members.
The police, who visited her home at the time, warned her of the dangers of being in politics. Remembering her terrified self back then, Sheela said, “I was five months pregnant when the police said I need to save my husband from getting killed. I couldn’t process how party politics affected the family, but, as years went by, I got used to it. Now, I want to give my share of service to democracy” Sheela and her husband Cheran had gone on a door-to-door campaign in the ward reaching out to 50,000 voters. She contested on an independent symbol (wrist watch) and won the election.