5 Most Powerful Women Politicians in India

India is a country that has diversity in almost every field. And same is the case for Politics as well. Read more to know about some of these remarkable Women politicians in India.

INDIRA GANDHI

(India’s first female prime minister--1966-1977/1980-1984)

First Female Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi was a firebrand politician. Known as the Iron lady of India, her political career was mired with controversies, the biggest blotch being ‘Emergency.’ The Gandhi stalwart’s life is a bittersweet remembrance of her part played in forming this country. She was often criticised for her authoritarian ways. She was one of the first female politician's in India.  

Indira led the country into a nuclear age in 1974, with the detention of an underground device. Nationalisation of banks, a bloody conflict between East and West Pakistan, the signing of Simla agreement, Green revolution, are some of the highlights of her career.

SUSHMA SWARAJ

(External Affairs Minister-- 26 May 2014-Present)

The undisputed Twitter queen, Sushma Swaraj at 25, became the country's youngest Cabinet minister in Haryana government and had also served as chief minister of Delhi. Swaraj began her political career with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in the 1970s. In 1973 she started practice as an advocate in the Supreme Court of India. She has been elected six times to the Lok Sabha and three times as MLA. Holding various portfolios in the Union Cabinet, she has been minister for Information and Broadcasting (during the 13-day Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government in 1996 when she started live telecast of Lok Sabha debates), Minister for Information and Broadcasting; Telecommunications and health minister. She was elected from Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh in 2014.

She is hailed as the people’s minister, with her prompt responses in not only tackling issues pertaining to her portfolio. Also on a social media platform. 

You can watch her brilliant speech at the 71st session of UNGA New York here -

SONIA GANDHI



Indian National Congress party’s head honcho, Sonia Gandhi turned around her perceived negativities, in her favor. Born as Edvige Antonia Albina Maino in Italy on 9 December 1946. Sonia Gandhi is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. She joined politics in 1997 amidst constant requests from Congress party members after the demise of her husband Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1991.

She is the first foreign-born Indian Female Politician to lead the national party since Independence. She had won the Lok Sabha elections in 1999 from Bellary, Uttar Pradesh, defeating senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj. She was re-elected as Lok Sabha member from Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh, twice (2004 and 2009). Sonia Gandhi holds the record of being the longest-serving president of the Congress party. She has been holding this position since 1998. In 2007, she was named the world’s sixth most powerful woman by the Forbes magazine.

Also Read - 11 Strong & Confident Women Quotes

JAYALALITHA


AIADMK supremo, J Jayalalitha was revered among her followers. Her political career has been characterized by peaks and lows. She has been elected chief minister four times. In most cases, Jayalalitha's lows have been followed by dramatic political comebacks in which she has been reinstated as Tamil Nadu chief minister. 

A Karnataka high court order in 2015, which cleared her of involvement in a corruption scandal, paved the way for her return to power after a setback in September 2014 when a trial court found her guilty for corruption and gave her a four-year jail sentence.

Jayalalitha's admirers say she has played a key role in the development of Tamil Nadu as one of India's most economically influential states. She has championed the cause of the rural and urban poor by introducing subsidized food canteens, providing free laptops to thousands of school pupils and students and launching other populist schemes like giving away food mixers and grinders to families.

Many publicly funded projects are named after her, such as the canteens scheme. The canteens are known as Amma Canteens - Amma in Tamil is Mother, an honorific euphemism by which Jayalalitha is addressed by her followers in the state.

Jayalalitha’s demise on 5 Dec 2016, came as a shocker for many of her ardent supporters. Hospitalised on September 22, Jayalalithaa was under treatment for almost three months. She suffered a major cardiac arrest on December 4 and passed away the next day.

Also read, How Dr.Rashmi Tiwari is Empowering The Tribal Girls Of India  

MAMATA BANERJEE

The Bengal tigress and one of the current existing Female Politicians in India. Founder and chairman of All India Trinamool Congress, she is often referred to as Didi.

Banerjee previously served as the Minister of Railways twice and is also the first woman Railway Minister of India.  She rose to prominence after opposing the erstwhile land acquisition policies for industrialisation by the Communist government in West Bengal for Special Economic Zones at the cost of agriculturalists and farmers.

In 2011 Banerjee pulled off a landslide victory for the TMC Congress alliance in West Bengal, defeating the 34-year-old Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front government, the world's longest-serving democratically-elected communist government in the process.

These ladies owned their badass vibe with `elan and gusto. They were not apologetic about their stand on issues and criticisms and backlashes made them stronger. Politics is not for the faint hearted and these exceptional women showed them why.