Famous people from Banjara Community- Vasanthrao Naik, Ex-Chief Minister of Maharasthra 

Vasantrao Phulsing Naik (1 July 1913 – 18 August 1979) was Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 1963 until 1975. To this date, he remains as the longest-serving Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Also, he had the credit to return to power after completion of full five years which could not be possible for any other chief minister in Maharashtra. V. P. Naik was born in 1913 at the remote Gahuli village near Chapdoh dam, 3 km from Karegaon on Karegaon-Ramnagar-Yawali link road off Yavatmal-Ghatanji State highway 237, in the Yavatmal district in the southern Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. He is the uncle of former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Sudhakarrao Naik and his politician brother Manohar Naik who was a MLA from Pusad.

His experience in grassroots politics made him a responsible legislator. He was a staunch supporter of Yashwantrao Chavan. He was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh during 1952-1957, Bombay State during 1957-1960 and of Maharashtra during 1960 to 1977. In 1952, he was appointed Deputy Minister for Revenue in the Government of Madhya Pradesh. He was made Minister for Cooperation in 1957 and, later, Minister for Agriculture in the Government of Bombay State. From 1960 to 1963, he was Minister for Revenue in the Government of Maharashtra.

After the death of Marotrao Kannamwar, Naik was elected Chief Minister of Maharashtra, a post which he held for more than eleven years during 1963-1975. He is considered the father of the Green Revolution in Maharashtra. The industrialization of Maharashtra is largely the legacy of his progressive industrial policies.

He was also elected to the 6th Lok Sabha from Washim in 1977. V. P. Naik died in Singapore on 18 August 1979. Many journalists and experts of political studies attribute the rise of right wing party Shiv Sena in the 1970s to his policy of building up the Shiv Sena as a counterweight to the communist-led labour unions in Mumbai. He was the founder and Managing Committee member of the Janta Shikshan Prasarak Mandal and the Babasaheb Naik College of Engineering, Pusad. The Shri Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College in Yavatmal city of Maharashtra state, was named in his honour. The 2015 Marathi film Mahanayak vasant tu, starring Chinmay Mandlekar, is his biopic.

As a politician he is as popular as Devaraj Urs, the ex-Chief Minister of Karnataka. Even several decades after his death, the people of Maharashtra remembers him as the most  progressive Chief Minister the state has ever seen. Several government institutions like;  Vasantrao Naik Vimukta Jatis And Nomadic Tribes Development Corporation (Limited); Vasantrao Naik, Marathwada Agricultural University (MAU) Parbhani; Vasantrao Naik Government Institute of Arts and Social Sciences, Nagpur; and Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College in Yavatmal are named after him, besides large number of private educational institutions.  

Famous people from Banjara Community- Yethiraj South Indian film actor

Yethiraj is a South Indian film actor who has acted in more than 100 Kannada movies and has recently ventured into Tamil movies too. Coming from a humble family of agriculturists,  in Anekal taluk, Yethiraj acted in big roles early in his career. The first noticeable role was in Prem directed Jogi. Though his role of an inspector was just three minutes long, he made a mark and the film became a big hit. The real breakthrough and career turn was in My Autograph. The Sudeep-directed film got Yethiraj instant recognition and a flood of offers. His most noticeable roles include in films like Mussanje Maatu, Akka Tangi, Crazy Star and Dandupalya,  Bachchan , Just Maath Maathalli and My Autograph  He also acted in offbeat films like Janapada and Bannada Kode. He also played the lead in the film Kotlalappo Kai.

His Tamil debut is Thanikattu Raja, starring Arya and directed by Raghavan. Yethiraj plays a cop with negative shades. Yethiraj acted in the Kannada film Mr Mommaga directed by Raghavan. The director was impressed enough to promise him a role in his Tamil film. The call came soon after. The actor has taken the offer seriously. 'I can speak decent Tamil that is enough if you want to speak to someone who knows Tamil in Bengaluru,' he says. But in the last one month he has immersed himself into speaking Tamil like a native.

Famous people from Banjara Community, Poorna Malavath the youngest girl to climb Mount Everest

Malavath Purna  (also called Malavath Poorna, Purna Malavath, or Poorna Malavath; born 10 June 2000) is an Indian mountaineer from Nizamabad district, Telangana. On 25 May 2014, Poorna scaled the highest peak of Mount Everest and, aged 13 years and 11 months, became the youngest girl in the world to have reached the summit of Everest. The youngest boy to summit Mt. Everest is Jordan Romero, who reached the summit at age 13 years and 10 months. She was accompanied by Sandhanapalli Anand Kumar from Khammam. She scaled Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in Russia and in Europe on 27th July, 2017 at around 10:00 hrs.(IST) . After reaching the summit of Elbrus, she unfurled a 50ft long Indian Tricolor singing the Indian National Anthem.

Poorna was born at Pakala village, Nizamabad district of Telangana state of India. She joined Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society for her education. Her talent was spotted by the secretary of the Society Dr.R.S. Praveen Kumar. She was shortlisted for Operation Everest along with Sadhanapalli Anand Kumar. In preparation for climbing Mount Everest she trekked to mountains of Ladakh and Darjeeling. A movie based on her life story was released in 2017 named Poorna: Courage Has No Limit directed by Rahul Bose.

Famous people from Banjara Community- Lalchand Rajput, the Cricketer

Lalchand Sitaram Rajput  (born on 18 December 1961) is a former Indian cricketer who is the current head coach of the Afghan national team. His parents are from Gulbarga district and migrated to Mumbai when his father got employment in Baba Atomic Research Centre. Formerly he was Ranji Trophy captain representing Maharastra state.

Rajput played in two Tests and four ODIs from 1985 to 1987. After the conclusion of his playing career, he served as manager of the Indian national team for a brief period. He has also held administrative positions with the Mumbai Cricket Association. Rajput had a distinguished career as an opening batsman for Bombay, and at one time was considered one of the best openers in India after Sunil Gavaskar. He was an occasional off-spinner. He was coach of Under-19 Indian Cricket Team during the tour of England. Rajput was appointed as the manager of the winning Indian cricket team for the Twenty20 World Championship 2007 held in South Africa. Rajput was the coach of the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League 2008. In June 2016, Rajput was named as head coach of Afghanistan's national team, replacing Pakistan's Inzamam ul Haq.

Famous people from Banjara Community- Shekhar Naik, the cricketer

Shekhar Lakshman Naik (born 7 April 1986) is an Indian blind cricketer and a former captain of the India national blind cricket team. He captained India to victories at the T20 Blind Cricket World Cup in 2012 and Blind Cricket World Cup in 2014. In 2017, the Government of India awarded Naik with Padma Shri, the country's fourth highest civilian honour. Naik was born in Arakere in southern Karnataka as the son of a farmer. He was born completely blind, and his mother and 15 members of his family also suffered from visual impairment. Naik injured his head after falling down along the bank of a river when he was seven. He was taken to a health camp organised nearby, and during the treatment the doctors realised the possibility of restoring sight in his right eye. He was subsequently operated upon in Bangalore and was able to get 60% of his vision in his right eye.

His father died soon after, and he was sent to the Shri Sharada Devi School for the Blind in Shimoga. He learnt to play cricket while at the school. He worked in the fields during the summer holidays to fund his cricketing ambitions. His mother died when he was 12. While not playing, he works as a sports coordinator for an NGO called Samarthanam, which funds the Cricket Association for the Blind in India. He is married and is blessed with two daughters.

In 2000, he was drafted into the Karnataka team after scoring 136 runs in 46 balls. He was called up into the India national blind cricket team in 2002 and went on to captain the team in 2010. Every team consists of 4 B1 players (completely blind), 3 B2 players (partially blind) and 4 B3 players (partially sighted). Naik is among the B2 players. He was the man of the tournament in the 2006 World Cup. He scored 134 runs in 58 balls against England in the finals, to help the team win the inaugural T20 world cup in 2012. He also led the team to victory in the 2014 Cricket World Cup held in South Africa. 

Famous people from Banjara Community Mr. K.T.Rathod, Minister (1972) and KPCC president (1981) in Karnataka state

Sri. K.T. Rathod was born in a small village Benal in Basavanbaggewadi Taluka of Bijapur District. Benal Village got submerged during the construction of Almatti Dam. The village got relocated by the Government of Karnataka and at present is situated at NH 13 after Nidagundi village. Born in a poor family Sri. K.T. Rathod studied with great hardship and difficulties and got his B.Com degree from Karnataka University Dharwad. He joined as an official in the Finance Department of Government of Karnataka in 1957. He completed his masters in Arts and LL.B. while in service. He married Smt. Ashadevi Rathod, Daughter of Late. Sri. Gopaldev Jadhav from Bhedsur Tanda in Chittapur Taluka of Gulbarga District in the year 1959.  They have four Children Sri. Prakash Rathod, Smt. Shobha, Sri. Vijay Rathod and Smt. Tejashwini.

After completing his law degree Sri. K.T. Rathod resigned from the four walled Government job and started practicing at Bijapur and also at The High Court of Karnataka Bangalore and simultaneously started social work.

Recognizing his abilities Smt. Indira Gandhiji fielded him from the Bijapur Assembly constituency in 1972, and he got elected and was sworn in as the Minister of state for fisheries under late Sri. Devraj Urs's Ministry. His good work further earned him the additional charge of Horticulture in 1974 and in 1976 he was promoted to cabinet rank and got the portfolio of Social Welfare. K.T. Rathod was the first Lambani representative in the State Ministry (1972), and credit should go to the then Chief Minister, the late D. Devaraj Urs. As a Minister, K.T. Rathod ensured that the Lambanis from Mumbai Karnataka were included in the list of Scheduled Castes. Having been an able organizer Sri. K.T. Rathod was made the President of KPCC in 1981. Unfortunately he had a massive paralytic attack in 1987 and was bedridden for nearly 10 years and passed away in 1993.

Famous people in Banjara community Dr.K.Venkatalakshmamma, Bharathanatyam exponent

K.Venkatalakshamma (29 May 1906 –1 July 2002) was a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer. A doyenne of the Mysore Style of Bharatanatyam, she was the last representative of the Mysore court tradition. She got Sangeeth Natak Academcy Award in 1965 and  Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour, in 1992. Venkatalakshamma was born on 29 May 1906 in a Lambani family in Tangali Tanda, Kadur. At the age of eight her grandparents took her to the royal court of Mysore to learn Bharatanatyam under the tutelage of the well-known dancer, 'Natya Saraswati' Jatti Thayamma.

Venkatalakshamma learnt the art of dance in the gurukula system and made her ‘Ranga Pravesha’ when she was twelve. She learnt Sanskrit from Asthana Vidwans Devottama Jois, Shanta Shastry and Giri Bhatta, the essential components of Carnatic music from Dr B.Devendrappa and C.Rama Rao and performed with her guru Thayamma for nearly 30 years.

Venkatalakshamma would go to her Guru Thayamma’s house in the early morning hours and engage in a series of rigorous exercises, some of which included lifting coins and needles with the eyelids to train the eye muscles for the demands of intricate abhinaya. When it came to performance, aharya did not include heavy make-up or artificial jewellery, and rangapravesha was not a social event as it is now.

Venkatalakshamma was appointed "Asthana Vidushi," royal court dancer, by the great King Krishnarajendra Wodeyar IV in 1939 and soon she became a household name in the world of Bharatanatyam. She is credited with taking the Mysore style of Bharatanatyam to its zenith. She served as Asthana Vidushi for an incredible 40 years in the courts of H H Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV and H H Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, the last of the Mysore rulers.

After 40 years of service in the palace, Venkatalakshamma, the famous abhinaya exponent, opened her own institution, Bharatiya Nritya Niketana. When the Faculty of Dance was founded at the University of Mysore in 1965 Venkatalakshamma became its first faculty member and retired after serving for nine years in 1974. Venkatalakshamma trained a host of dancers from both India and abroad, served as dance teacher and Principal at various institutes including the Nupura School of Bharatanatyam in Bangalore.