Women’s Day 2021: 15 women who shook the political scene in India

Here are 15 most influential female political leaders in India:

Meet the 15 women politicians who influenced the course of Indian politics and proved to be robust when compared to their counterparts

Mahua Moitra is an economics and mathematics graduate from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. She was an investment banker at JPMorgan Chase in New York City and London before joining politics in 2009. Allied initially with INC, later moved to the All India Trinamool Congress party in 2010. Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra won a seat in the 17th Lok Sabha from Krishnagar in West Bengal. 

Late Indira Gandhi is known as the Iron lady of India. She was one of the most influential Prime Ministers of India, who served two terms. In 1999, Gandhi was named 'Woman of the Millennium' in an online poll organised by the BBC. And in 2020, Gandhi was named by Time magazine among the world's 100 powerful women who defined the last century.

Late Sushma Swaraj was 7-times MP and 3-times MLA, and was a very powerful BJP leader. She was also Union minister of external affairs of India. Sushma was the second woman to hold this position after Indira Gandhi.

Mamata Banerjee is the first woman CM of West Bengal, popularly known as 'Didi'. She single-handedly dethroned the 34-year-old left front government in the state. Mamata was also the first woman railway minister of the country. Later, in 1997, she launched her own party Trinamool Congress, an anti-Leftist party, to strengthen her position in West Bengal.

Late Jayaram Jayalalithaa was the first Indian actress who served six times as the CM of Tamil Nadu for over 14 years between 1991 and 2016.  In 1984, Jayalalithaa became a Rajya Sabha MPnot just that she was also the general secretary of the AIADMK. 

Mayawati from Jatav caste is the most powerful Dalit leader in India. 4 times CM of Uttar Pradesh has changed the face of the state. She is the national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party, which concentrates on a platform of social change for Bahujans, more commonly known as OBC, SC and ST as well as converted minorities from these castes. 

Maneka Sanjay Gandhi is the Indian Union Cabinet Minister for Women & Child Development in the Government of PM Narendra Modi. She is an animal rights activist, author and environmentalist.

Pratibha Patil, besides politician she was a lawyer too. She was the first women to serve as president of India. She was also a member of INC. Pratibha Patil had also served as governor of Rajasthan from 2004 to 2007.

Mehbooba Mufti took a dive into politics of the state in the year 1996 by joining Congress party, along with her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed at a time when militancy was at its peak. Mufti was later credited with the PDP growth and also some said that she outshone her father in connecting with the common people, especially the youths.

Sonia Gandhi was the president of the Indian National Congress and chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance. Sonia took over as the party leader in 1998, 7 years after her husband Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. She has been popularly described as one of the most powerful politicians in the country and is often listed among the world's most powerful women.

Nirmala Sitharaman is India’s first full-time woman finance minister. It was just in September 2017 that she was appointed the defence minister, marking one of the swiftest ascents in Indian politics; she had joined the BJP only in 2006. After all, no woman politician in India, except for former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, had helmed these two critical ministries situated on either side of the ceremonial boulevard of New Delhi’s ultimate corridor of power, the Raisina Hills.

VS Ramadevi was the first woman to hold the post of Chief Election Commission of India, she was also the first Governor of Karnataka and also the first woman to serve as secretary general of Rajya Sabha. Ramadevi also served as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh.

Sheila Dikshit was the CM of Delhi from 1998 to 2013 and also a very senior member of the Congress party. She has led the national party to three consecutive electoral triumphs in the capital. She became the Governor of Kerala on March 11, 2014. Later, she resigned from the post on August 25, 2014.

Vasundhara Raje Scindia was the first woman CM of Rajasthan. Also she was said to be one of the most powerful female politicians in India. She was elected to the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly in 1985. Vasundhara is a member of the BJP. She is also the head of Dholpur royal family, and is the acting queen of Dholpur.