AAP leader Atishi took oath on Saturday as the third woman Chief Minister of Delhi and was the youngest of the three to hold the highest office in the nation’s capital. She also became the 17th woman to hold the post of chief minister in independent India.
The senior AAP leader, however, will be part of the interim as the assembly elections in the national capital will be held in February.
A member of the legislature for the first time, Atishi is a key face of the party and managed the performance of AAP during Arvind Kejriwal’s imprisonment in Tihar jail in connection with the tax policy case.
The name of the Kalkaji MP was suggested by Kejriwal, who tendered his resignation as chief minister from the top post.
As Delhi’s third woman chief minister, Atishi follows in the footsteps of BJP’s Sushma Swaraj and Congress’ Sheila Dikshit.
The 43-year-old is Delhi’s youngest woman Chief Minister. Dikshit was 60 years old when he took over while Swaraj was 46. She is the second woman chief minister in the country at present, along with West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee.
The following is a list of all women ministers in the history of India:
Sucheta Kripalani: India’s first independent woman minister, Kripalani led the Congress government in Uttar Pradesh from 1963 to 1967.
Nandini Satpathy: The second woman chief minister of India, the Congress leader ruled Odisha between 1972 and 1976. His tenure coincided with the declaration of Emergency in 1975.
Shashikala Kakodkar: Maharashtrawadi party leader Gomantak held two stints as chief minister of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu from 1973 to 1979.
Anwara Taimur: The first Muslim woman minister in an Indian state, she led the Congress government in Assam from 1980 to 1981.
VN Janaki Ramachandran: The actor-turned-politician, apart from being the first woman chief minister of Tamil Nadu, was also the first film artist to hold this position in India. She held this position for 23 days in 1988 following the death of her husband MG Ramachandran
J Jayalalithaa: Another actor-turned-politician, Jayalalithaa served for more than 14 years as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, serving six terms.
Mayawati: The Bahujan Samaj Party supremo served four terms as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for a total of seven years.
Rajinder Kaur Bhattal: The only woman chief minister of Punjab, the Congress leader’s tenure ran from 1996 to 1997.
Rabri Devi: Taking over after her husband Lalu Prasad Yadav was arrested in 1997, she is the only woman chief minister of Bihar.
Sushma Swaraj: The first woman chief minister of Delhi, the BJP leader had a short tenure of 52 days in 1998.
Sheila Dikshit: The senior Congress leader is now the chief minister of Delhi having served for 15 years between 1998 and 2013.
If Bharti: A leader of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, he was the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh from 2003 to 2004.
Vasundhara Raje: Daughter of Vijayaraje Scindia-Shinde and Jivajirao Scindia-Shinde, maharaja of Gwalior, ruled Rajasthan as chief minister for 10 years.
Mamata Banerjee: The chief minister of West Bengal and the Trinamool Congress is in his third consecutive term since taking office in 2011.
Anandiben Patel: A woman chief minister of Gujarat, she succeeded Narendra Modi after he was sworn in as the prime minister. His position lasted from 2014 to 2016
Mehbooba Mufti: The leader of the People’s Democratic Party was Jammu and Kashmir’s first woman chief minister. He was also the last chief minister of the old regime.