How Dalit lawyer Satyesha Leuva defied odds to become Gujarat sarpanch

No family history

What makes her win even more remarkable is that Satyesha has no family history of Left politics.

Her father is an advocate, her mother studied law but never practised, her brother works at the India Post, and her sister is a nurse. Traditionally, she comes from a family of Congress sympathisers, and yet, in a state politically dominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Satyesha chose to join the SFI and the CPI(M).

In the recently concluded SFI All India Conference, Satyesha was elected the All India vice-president. She’s also a permanent invitee to the CPI(M) Gujarat State Committee.

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She did her schooling from a grant-in-aid school in Sabarkantha, before moving on to do her BSc, LLB and LLM from Gujarat University. Activism was not in her plans, but it happened.

Beginning of activism

Before 2019, SFI had not held a state conference in Gujarat since 1989, pointed out Satyesha in an interview with The Federal. It had all but disappeared from campuses and public memory. That was until Nitish Mohan, an engineering graduate from Kerala who had done his schooling in Gujarat, was sent to the state to revive the organisation.

“He really built the organisation and established our presence. Initially, it was my elder brother Aagman who joined SFI when he was in college. At that time, my parents and even I used to tell him not to go to all these political events. But he was adamant. One day, there was a mass fund collection for Bhagat Singh’s anniversary. I also went along. We stood with boxes in the Darwaza market in Ahmedabad and asked for funds. I met so many like-minded and progressive people there. I knew this was the place for me,” she recounted.

Her role in activism grew during the pandemic and after the Hathras incident where a Dalit girl was raped and murdered. “During the Covid pandemic, we went back to Vadvasa because there was no lockdown there as such. Some of my SFI comrades and I began organising small evening meetings in nearby villages on the Hathras issue and gender and caste violence. We mobilised people in 11-12 nearby villages on the issue,” she recalled.

It led to a historic rally in Himmatnagar attended by people from 35 villages, which drew media attention. “I realised something then. If people were detained, other comrades would march on. It was not just for show,” she said.

Overcoming hurdles

Her family opposed her in journey with SFI. At the time she joined the SFI in Gujarat, she was the only active woman member, she says.

“Everyone welcomed me, but my family was worried. They would ask me why I have to spend so much time with the boys. They were concerned because some of our campaigns required me to stay outdoors for 3-4 days at a stretch. I met with a lot of reluctance,” she says.

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But as she continued to work on people’s issues, she was met with more acceptance. “During the lockdown, many students couldn't pay school fees. Transfer certificates were withheld. Schools refused to promote students unless full payment was made. We took up these cases, campaigned hard, and got fee waivers for many. There were also scholarship issues, especially for SC/ST and OBC students. Slowly, my family began to see the value in what I was doing,” she explained.

In sync with Left ideology

It wasn’t until much later, though, that she realised the SFI was affiliated with the CPI(M). "Initially, I didn’t even know SFI was an all-India organisation. When I found out it was linked to the CPI(M), I began studying more about the party's history, ideology, and why it mattered. I like that the Left ideology speaks of equality. It is what the world needs,” she says.

Satyesha brushes aside criticism that women and Dalits don’t find space in the CPI(M). “SFI gave me something no other organisation did: respect and equality. As a Dalit girl, I never felt seen in society. But here, I found a platform. I could speak. I could lead. And they let me. If I didn’t feel equal here, I wouldn’t have reached this far. In SFI, if you work, you rise,” she shared.

Although, Satyesha contested from Vadvasa – her native village, it is not a place she has had ties to for several years. Eight years ago, her family shifted to Ahmedabad. So, when panchayat elections were announced, she wasn’t on anyone’s radar, not even her own.

“I wasn’t planning to contest. But the youth of the village, whom we had worked with during the pandemic, started encouraging me. They told me: we need someone who can speak, who can fight. Someone who will actually work on the issues we face, not just token candidates,” she says.

Election campaign

Once the decision was taken, Satyesha concentrated on both offline and online modes of campaign. “We went door-to-door, not just to ask for votes but to listen. I had pamphlets with specific issues written on them — bad roads, lack of drainage, no health centre, no playgrounds, no library,” she shared.

Social media was also a powerful tool. Every day, she would circulate short videos on WhatsApp, talking about one issue at a time.

“I didn’t use Instagram or Facebook. Just village WhatsApp groups. That’s where people are,” she said.

But her journey wasn’t without pushback. On the last day for withdrawal of nominations, pressure mounted on her to back out. The reason? A scheme called Samras, encouraged by the Gujarat government, where gram panchayat elections are avoided if all candidates agree to select one person unanimously. This saves the state election costs and earns the village a grant.

Pressure to withdraw

“My elder brother, who works in the post office, was pulled into it. I felt suffocated. I left the village and switched off my phone for a day and went and stayed at a relative’s place. I was mentally tortured to follow the advice of the elders, but I decided that if I had filled the nomination form, I would contest it, even if I got two votes. I saw this as an attack on democracy, against my right to contest. Because only those who had clout in terms of money or muscle power would come out victorious from this. It’s an election after all. People must choose,” she said.

The population of Vadvasa is dominated by OBCs, followed by Patidars and then Scheduled Castes (SC). It’s a seat reserved for women from the SC community. Satyesha won with 596 votes, defeating the BJP-backed candidate Savita Ben by 104 votes. The third candidate, Pushpa Ben, who contested independently, received just 247 votes.

“This was a seat reserved for SC women. But the win wasn’t just about identity. It was about trust. The OBC youth supported me strongly. They could see my activism, and there was a hope that someone outside the usual power structures might actually do the job differently,” she said.

Plans and dreams

Now, as sarpanch, Satyesha has her work cut out for her. “Our primary school has just four classrooms for eight grades. Kids study in two shifts. There’s no PHC (Primary Health Centre), no drainage in Dalit and OBC colonies, and no streetlights in large stretches. You need a mobile torch just to walk at night,” she pointed out.

Being from the CPI(M), there is a lot of inspiration she takes from the Kerala model. “One of my dreams is to have a library in every ward, like they have in Kerala. Children from our village have to go to neighbouring towns to study. I don’t want this. We have already built a library in Sabarkantha. I want to do it here as well,” she said.

“Kerala also has a playground in every gram panchayat. That is my aim too,” she says.

Through her work, Satyesha hopes to put more red dots on a saffron map. “Many people don’t know about the CPI(M) or SFI here. I didn’t either. But I believe in the politics of the Left, and we will try to get more people to believe in us, too,” she affirmed.