Trupti Desai is a Maharashtra-based right to pray campaigner and also the founder-president of the Bhumata Ranragini Brigade that was formed in 2010. Born in Nipani Taluka on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border, Desai's family moved to Pune when she was eight. The eldest among the three siblings, Desai did her primary schooling in her mother's village in Kolhapur. She was a home science student at Shrimathi Nathibai Damodar Thackersee College but discontinued in the first year due to family problems. Follow Sabarimala LIVE UPDATES Also Read | ‘Trupti Desai has a dictatorial attitude, doesn’t like her colleagues to get spotlight’ She became the president of an organisation called Krantiveer Jhopdi Vikas Sangh in 2003 where she helped in the rehabilitation of slum dwellers. This was her first foray into activism. Desai announced Wednesday that she along with six other women would visit Sabarimala temple on November 17 to “exercise their right to pray guaranteed by the constitution.” Sabarimala temple is set to open for a two-month pilgrimage on Friday, for the third time after the Supreme Court overturned centuries-old tradition to allow women of all age entry into the hilltop shrine. The activist had earlier successfully led the agitation for the entry of women into the inner sanctum of Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra in April 2016. Desai had spearheaded the campaign for women to be allowed into various religious places including Shani Shingnapur temple, the Haji Ali Dargah, the Mahalakshmi Temple and the Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple.
