Niruben Patel
Born in 1926, Niruben Patel abandoned her school at the call of Gandhiji, to later rejoin. She went on to complete her MA from Elphinston College, Bombay.
Born in 1926, Niruben Patel abandoned her school at the call of Gandhiji, to later rejoin. She went on to complete her MA from Elphinston College, Bombay. She became a member of the Communist Party, leading the movement against the raise in sales by the Saurashtra Government, as well as against the ‘betterment levy’ which infuriated the peasantry. The Saurashtra Government had issued a ‘permanent arrest warrant’ against her, but she could not be arrested. Known as the ‘Lioness of Saurashtra’, she would appear at mass meetings, address them, and disappear right under the nose of the police! The Saurashtra peasantry was able to get the ‘betterment tax’ withdrawn. Niruben took part in the movement for linguistic states and for the liberation of Goa, Diu and Daman from Portuguese rule, for which she was arrested. In 1968, she became Gujarat’s first elected woman mayor, in Bhavnagar. She was arrested under MISA during the Railway Workers’ Strike of 1974.
The election battle, and the challenges ahead
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