From Sucheta Kriplani to Mehbooba Mufti: List of women chief ministers in India
If Mehbooba Mufti does become chief minister, she will be the 16th woman to head an Indian state government
New Delhi: When the president of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti is sworn in as the ninth chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), she will be creating history. Mufti will be the first woman to hold the post in J&K. She will succeed her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, 79, who died in Delhi on Thursday.
Mufti’s name was unanimously proposed by PDP MLAs, hours after Sayeed’s death. Her ascension to the post is subject to support from the PDP’s coalition partner in Jammu and Kashmir, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose state legislators are meeting later on Friday.
If she does become chief minister, Mufti will be the 16th woman to head an Indian state government. There are currently four women chief ministers in India -- Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), J. Jayalalithaa (Tamil Nadu), Anandiben Patel (Gujarat) and Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan).
Here’s a list of women chief ministers of Indian states:
• Sucheta Kriplani (Uttar Pradesh, Congress) — first woman chief minister of Uttar Pradesh
Term as CM: October 1963 to March 1967
• Nandini Satpathy (Odisha, Congress) — first and only woman CM of Odisha
Terms as CM: June 1972 to March 1973; March 1974 to December 1976
• Sashikala Kakodkar (Goa, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party) — first and only woman CM of Goa
Term as CM: August 1973 to April 1979
• Syeda Anwera Taimur (Assam, Congress) — first and only woman CM of Assam
Term as CM: December 1980 to June 1981
• Janaki Ramachandran (Tamil Nadu, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) — first CM of Tamil Nadu; shortest term held by a woman CM (23 days)
Term as CM: 7 January 1988 to 30 January 1988
• J. Jayalalithaa (Tamil Nadu, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) — five-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu; incumbent chief minister
Terms as CM: June 1991 to May 1996; May 2001 to September 2001; March 2002 to May 2006; May 2011 to September 2014; May 2015 to present
• Mayawati (Uttar Pradesh, Bahujan Samaj Party) — first Dalit woman CM in India
Terms as CM: June 1995 to October 1995; March 1997 to September 1997; May 2002 to August 2003; May 2007 to March 2012
• Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Punjab, Congress) — first and only woman CM of Punjab
Term as CM: January 1996 to February 1997
• Rabri Devi (Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal) — first and only woman CM of Bihar
Terms as CM: July 1997 to February 1999; March 1999 to March 2000; March 2000 to March 2005
• Sushma Swaraj (Delhi, Bharatiya Janata Party) — first woman CM of Delhi
Term as CM: October 1998 to December 1998 (51 days)
• Sheila Dikshit (Delhi, Congress) — longest term held by a CM (by days)
Term as CM: December 1998 to December 2013 (5,484 days)
• Uma Bharati (Madhya Pradesh, BJP) — first woman CM of Madhya Pradesh
Term as CM: December 2003 to August 2004
• Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan, BJP) — first woman CM of Rajasthan; incumbent chief minister
Terms as CM: December 2003 to December 2008 (1st term); December 2013 to present (2nd term)
• Anandiben Patel (Gujarat, BJP) — first woman CM of Gujarat
Term as CM: May 2014 to present.
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