Gadwal Vijayalakshmi was born in Hyderabad, India to politician father Dr.K Keshava Rao and M.L Vasanthakumari. She completed her schooling from Holy Mary High School in Saifabad, and went on to graduate from Raja Bahadur Venkata Rama Reddy Women’s College, Narayanguda.  She then finished her course in Journalism from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, and pursued law from Sultan Ul Uloom College of law, Banjara Hills. She later worked as a research assistant at Duke University, North Carolina in the department of Cardiology. After living in the U.S for 18 years, Ms Vijayalakshmi returned to India in 2007, giving up her American Citizenship to join her Veteran leader father in politics. She was elected as corporator from the Banjara Hills ward in 2016, and became the first Woman Mayor of Hyderabad in 2021 since the formation of the state in 2014.