Study Guides/General Knowledge/First Female Chief Minister of India
Study Guide · General Knowledge

Who was the First Female Chief Minister in India?

In the history of Indian politics, several women have broken the glass ceiling to hold the highest offices in the country. A very frequent General Knowledge question is about the very first woman to become the head of a state government.

Question (Click to Flip)

Who was the first female Prime Minister of India?

Answer

Indira Gandhi became the first (and to date, the only) female Prime Minister of India in 1966.

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Key Facts

On August 14, 1947, just minutes before Jawaharlal Nehru delivered his famous 'Tryst with Destiny' speech, it was Sucheta Kripalani who sang 'Vande Mataram' in the Independence session of Parliament.

She was married to Acharya J.B. Kripalani, a prominent socialist leader who was famously a bitter political opponent of her own party, the Congress.

1. The First Female Chief Minister

The first female Chief Minister of an Indian state was Sucheta Kripalani.

  • She served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (UP), India's largest state, from 1963 to 1967.
  • She was a member of the Indian National Congress party.

2. Her Role in the Freedom Struggle

Long before becoming a Chief Minister, Sucheta Kripalani was a fierce freedom fighter.

  • She came to the forefront of the freedom struggle during the Quit India Movement in 1942.
  • She worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi, especially during the bloody partition riots in Noakhali in 1946, walking village to village to establish peace.
  • She was one of the 15 women who were elected to the Constituent Assembly, helping draft the Constitution of India.

3. Her Legacy as Chief Minister

As Chief Minister of UP, she proved to be an incredibly tough and capable administrator. Her most famous achievement was successfully managing and ending a massive 62-day-long strike by state government employees, refusing to bend to unreasonable demands while maintaining law and order.

Questions and Answers

Who was the first female Prime Minister of India?+

Indira Gandhi became the first (and to date, the only) female Prime Minister of India in 1966.

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