Indian political arena has been ruled by males for long and it’s not very easy for any woman to make her presence felt here.
Still many strong women have made a mark in this arena and today they are known as the influential political leaders of India.
The list begins with India’s first female Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi and comprises of big names like Sushma Swaraj, Sonia Gandhi, and Sheila Dixit.
Bringing a positive message to Indian women, these numbers are still on increasing.
For instance, with Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti taking over as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, the number of women CMs in the country has now gone up to five.
The other chief ministers are J. Jayalalithaa (Tamil Nadu), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan) and Anandiben Patel (Gujarat).
Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are facing assembly polls and Jayalalithaa and Banerjee are leading the poll effort of their parties in their respective states.
Raje and Patel belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Together, the five women chief ministers constitute less than a sixth of all chief ministers in the country, but still a positive rise can’t be ignored.
The need of the time has already made leading political parties form women’s wings.
The BJP’s wing is the BJP Mahila Morcha, the INC’s wing is All India Mahila Congress, and the CPI’s wing is the National Federation of Indian Women.
According to reports, India ranks 20th from the bottom in terms of representation of women in Parliament; however, with this slow steady improvement, we can hope to step up the ladder in coming years.