Uddheshwari Paikra

Paikra is from Samri, Balrampur District, Chhattisgarh. She married Sidhnath Paikra, also a politician. She passed Class 12 in 1989 at the Government Higher Secondary School, Amarkantak, Shahdol. She is a member of the Balrampur Zilla Panchayat^[2] and earlier worked as a petrol bunk operator.^[3][4]

Paikra won from Samri Assembly constituency representing the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2023 Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly election. She polled 83,483 votes and defeated her nearest rival, Vijay Paikra of Indian National Congress, by a margin of 13,943 votes.^[5] She is one among the few elected MLAs who face criminal cases as per her affidavit with Election Commission of India.^[6][7]