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, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

in 1980 and 1989 from

Vijayawada Vijayawada ( ), formerly known by its colonial name Bezawada, is the second largest city and a major commercial hub in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. The city forms an integral part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is situated on th ...

constituency on an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

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

Biography

She was the daughter of famous atheist

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

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

Saraswathi Saraswati (, ), also spelled as Sarasvati, is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture. Together with the goddesses L ...

. She was born in

Vizianagram Vizianagaram, also known as Vijayanagaram, is a city and the headquarters of the Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in the Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapa ...

in today's

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

on 5 June 1934 and was educated at

Andhra University Andhra University is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. It is graded as an A++ institution by NAAC receiving a score of 3.74 on a scale of 4. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Mah ...

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

. 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) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

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

7th Lok Sabha The 7th Lok Sabha, (18 January 1980 – 31 December 1984) was elected in 1980 Indian general election. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India nine sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elected to 7th Lo ...

in 1980 from

constituency on an

ticket. She was reelected in 1989 to the

9th Lok Sabha The 9th Lok Sabha (2 December 1989 – 13 March 1991) was elected during 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 elected ...

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

Lions Club Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...

. 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 pres ...

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