Awarded the Padma Bhushan for social work in 1972, Yashodhara Dasappa played an active role in India’s struggle for independence, as well as being the first woman to serve as a cabinet minister in Karnataka. She made the headlines for quitting her portfolio to protest the lifting of the Prohibition in 1969.
During the freedom movement, Dasappa clashed with authorities on several occasions, including guarding the flagpole in defiance of a law forbidding public meetings in front of government buildings. Her home was a hub for underground Satyagrahi activity, and she wrote and gave fiery speeches against the government decision to commemorate an official building by naming it after Hamilton, who was known for his cruelty towards those activists agitating for freedom.
Dasappa was a follower of Gandhi and his ideals, especially with regards to the Harijans, adopting a little girl from that community as well as doing much for their welfare and progress.
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