21-year-old Bhagyashree Lekami drives her bike through kutcha roads, bordered by forests, in relentless pursuit of her sarpanch duties in Maharashtra’s Naxal stronghold, Gadchiroli.
Lekami is the sarpanch of Koti village, located in Bhamragad Tehsil of Gadchiroli in Maharashtra. The village is situated close to dense forests and the mountainous Naxal-dominated area of Abujmarh, at a distance of 2,000 km from Mumbai, reported ANI.
Lekami was elected sarpanch in 2019, after two years of that village not having one.
Speaking to ANI, the 21 year old said:
“Our village is at a distance of 2,000 km from Mumbai. Even the government cannot reach here. This is why the government cannot understand the problems of our village. To change the situation, the people in the village will have to come forward. Therefore, I decided to become a sarpanch.”