From the past few years, women have stepped out from their comfort zone and have acquired esteemed positions and reputation in almost every field such as civil services, corporate world, or even politics. India women have been into politics since ages. It is very difficult to be a part of the political arena, especially while doing a campaign. The opponents and their supporters continuously watch each activity with the hope that a mistake will be committed. From women’s point of view, they not only have to face such hardships but will also have to manage the stress based on their gender and the customs that go along with being a female. Despite all such pain, the world has witnessed some powerful Indian female politicians of all time. Let’s take a look at top 10 female leaders.
Indira Gandhi
Priyadarshini India Gandhi is the most important name when it comes to the history of women politicians in India. In November 1917, she was born in Allahabad. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (first Prime Minister of free India) was her father. In 1966, she became the first woman Prime Minister of India. She had exceptional qualities of leadership and directed the destiny of India for about 15 years (from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984). During her time, the world showed respect to India. During the Indo-Pak war, India defeated the Pakistani forces. She is one of the Indian female politicians who were appreciated even by the opposition parties. She was defined as a highly skilled and aggressive leader in the world. From there on, the world stopped and noticed the massive dominance of women. She is one of the famous female leaders in Indian history.
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Maino was born in Orbassano, Italy in 1946. She met with Rajiv Gandhi in 1965 while studying in the UK and later on, they got married. Rajiv Gandhi was killed in 1991 which made Sonia Gandhi to start a new life, without her husband. She was not into the politics until 1998 but after 2 years, she was selected as the Congress president. Sonia Gandhi is considered being the most famous Indian female politicians in India. She is also listed as one of the powerful women in the world. She was the first person ever who refused to accept the post of the Prime Minister and shocked the whole world.
Priyanka Gandhi
Priyanka Gandhi is a member of the Indian National Congress. She was born in January 1972. She is the daughter of Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. She resembles her grandmother, Indira Gandhi. She gave her first speech when she was 16 and the world saw her inherit quality of a leader. She got married to Robert Vadra in February 1997 and has two children. She is most popular in the constituency of Amethi and Raebareli. In 2007 Uttar Pradesh assembly election, she helped Congress in Amethi & Raebareli region for 10 seats. In January 2019, she was elected as the General Secretary of Congress from eastern Uttar Pradesh for 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Jayalalithaa
India is a male dominant country however Jayalalithaa set many benchmarks in history thereby giving her a name, Iron Lady of Tamil Nadu. She was an actress in early ages and later on, she entered into politics. She was born in 1948 in Mandya district of Mysore. She was excellent in her academics and also won Gold State Award when she came first in Class 10 in Tamil Nadu. She was one of the most talented actresses in the Tamil Movie Industry and one of the esteemed Indian female politicians. She acted in more than a hundred movies in different languages such as Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada. In 1982, Jayalalithaa was elected as a member of AIADMK, and it marked her presence into politics. She was the 11th, 14th, 16th, 18th and 19th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. She died in December 2016 when she was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. She was one of the most worshipped women in politics in India.
Mayawati
Mayawati was born on 15th January 1956. She is the president of Bahujan Samaj Party and was elected as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh 4 times. Mayawati did her B.A. from Kalindi College, Delhi University in 1975. She completed B. Ed. degree in 1976 from VMLG College, Ghaziabad. In 1983, she also did LL. B. from Delhi University. She wanted to become an IAS that point. She was appointed as MP in 1989. She became a member of Rajya Sabha in 1994. She was the first Dalit Indian woman to become the Chief Minister of UP. In 2003, she was rewarded with the Paul Harris Fellow Award for her contribution to remove polio from the state. She is one of the Indian female politicians who emphasis on the upliftment of schedule cast people in the country.
Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee was born in January 1955 in Kolkata. She is a female politician in India. She is the first female who became the Chief Minister of West Bengal. Mamta Banerjee began her political career from a young age. She joined the Indian National Congress and moved to higher ranks quickly in the party. She was appointed as the General Secretary of the Mahila Congress from 1976-1980. She won the general elections in 1984 and became the youngest Parliamentarian ever. She retained her seat in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009 from south Kolkata. She is one of the Indian female politicians who also emerged out as a good writer, she wrote more than 20 books, both in English and Bengali. Slaughter of Democracy and Struggle for Existence are few of the books written by her.
Sushma Swaraj
Sushma Swaraj was born in February 1952 in Ambala, Haryana. She did B.A. in Political Science and Sanskrit from S.D. College of Ambala. She completed LL.B. from the Punjab University at Chandigarh. She also received the best student award from S.D. College in 1970. She was appointed as MLA twice from Haryana during 1977-1982 and 1987-1990, and once from Delhi in 1998. In October 1998, she was the first woman to become Chief Minister of Delhi. She became the youngest cabinet minister at the age of 25 in 1977. In 1996, she decided to take a major step of live telecasting of Lok Sabha debates. Currently, she is the official spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party and also the All India Secretary of the party. She is also termed as one of the strongest Indian female political leaders. She is one of the Indian female politicians who is always ready to help others.
Vasundhara Raje
Vasundhara Raje Scindia was born in March 1953 in Mumbai. She did her graduation in political science and economics from Sophia College, Mumbai. She is a senior leader in Bharatiya Janata Party. She was twice appointed as Chief Minister of Rajasthan (2003-2008 and 2013-2018). She got married to Hemant Singh in 1972 but both got separated after the birth of their son. In 1984, Vasundhara Raje started her career in politics as a member of the National Executive of young BJP. From 1989, she won 4 consecutive Lok Sabha elections from Jhalawar, Rajasthan. She provided services towards self-empowerment of women for which she was given the “Women Together Award” by the UNO.
Sheila Dikshit
Sheila Dikshit is a famous personality in Indian politics. She is a member of the Congress party. She did M.A. from Miranda College, Delhi. She was appointed as the Chief Minister of Delhi for 3 consecutive terms, from 1998-2013. She is the second woman to become Chief Minister of Delhi. From 1986 to 1989, she was also the Union Minister. In 2008, she was honored as the best Chief Minister of India by the Journalist Association of India. In 2009, she was awarded Politician of the Year by the NDTV. Sheila Dikshit was also elected as the Governor of Kerala. Her tenure as a Governor was from 4 March 2014 to 26 August 2014. She lost the Delhi assembly elections in December 2013 and resigned from the post of the Chief Minister of Delhi thereafter.
Smriti Irani
Smriti Irani is a former television actress who has worked under a number of TV serials. She is a producer too and has an entertainment company with the name of Ugraya Entertainment. She was born in March 1976 in Delhi. Her family condition was not financially strong, so she started working after 10th class. She was into the promotion of beauty products. In 1998, she participated in Miss India contest however could not reach the finals. She then decided to go to Mumbai and her journey to the entertainment industry started after that. She is now a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. She was the Union Minister for Human Resource Development before the reorganization done by Cabinet in July last year. She bagged many awards during the Television industry. She is counted in those Indian female politicians who have exceptional speaking and leadership skills.
Last Few Words
Nowadays, the number of Indian female politicians is less as compared to male politicians. However, all these women politicians are at more powerful and dominant positions. The major parties today have powerful women leaders. It not only makes a big impact on a large number of women voters but also attracts women to step into politics. One challenge in parliament is that the number of seats for women is just 10% and it needs to grow to a significant level. Women Reservation Bill is pending and once it is approved, growth will be seen. Forbes (one of the respectable magazines of the world) have listed some of the Indian Political women in their book for their powerful and effective decisions.
