By Mikaela Viqueira
New Delhi, Apr 15 (EFE).- In Indian politics, a sphere heavily dominated by men, five women across party lines stand out as the most influential female politicians.
Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Nirmala Sitharaman, Priyanka Gandhi, and Smriti Irani are the top female leaders of India as the country heads for elections, scheduled between Apr. 19 and June 1.
While few are from families with historical political lineage, others have used their connections and decades-long work to catapult themselves to the top of politics, a profession where over 80 percent are men.
Sonia Gandhi
Italian by birth, Sonia Gandhi inherited the reins of the historic Indian National Congress (INC) party after her husband, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated in 1991. “Her role was significant in bringing the organization back to life,” political analyst Praveen Kumar told EFE.
She is credited with leading INC to electoral victory in the 2004 and 2009 general elections. However, she declined the prime minister’s position on both occasions, largely due to criticism from those who viewed her as an outsider.
These were the last general election victories for INC, a party built by Indian freedom fighters Mahatma Gandhi and the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Sonia was replaced by her son, Rahul Gandhi, in 2014 as the party chief, but she is still seen as the “backbone” of the party, which is currently at its lowest point of popularity.
Priyanka Gandhi
The general secretary of INC, Priyanka Gandhi, is contesting the general elections for the first time from the same constituency that her mother, Sonia Gandhi, held for years in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
With a physical and characteristic resemblance to her grandmother, assassinated Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, her surname, according to analysts, has led her to gain popular affection.
“The sympathy that we talk about in Priyanka Gandhi’s case is nothing that she commands. It’s a love people had for the Nehru family and not based on Priyanka’s merit,” analyst Sreejith Panickar told EFE.
Priyanka is yet to acquire the leadership qualities and organizational skills that are required to lead a party like INC, Kumar said.
Nirmala Sitharaman
The current Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, is an atypical case in the country’s politics, as she “was promoted to her position purely on merit and performance,” Panickar said.
She began her political career as a spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In 2014, she was inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, where she served initially as the Commerce and Industry Minister and then as the Defense Minister.
According to Panickar, Sitharaman “has proved her worth in the portfolios she was assigned” and has brought the country’s financial growth in her role as finance minister.
Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee is currently the only woman chief minister in the country and is known as one of the most implacable voices against Modi.
She entered politics at a very young age and made her way in a man’s world to become “the leader who successfully led a movement against the then communist government” in her state, West Bengal, Kumar said.
Although she is not among the top contenders in national politics, she is one of the prominent opposition leaders, whose work in West Bengal is indispensable.
Smriti Irani
Actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani rose to new ranks of popularity after the BJP won the 2014 general elections.
Though she held various profiles between 2014 and 2019, she was an impassable voice that defended Modi and the BJP’s policies vociferously.
She contested against INC leader Rahul Gandhi in the 2014 elections and lost the seat in Uttar Pradesh. But in 2019, she won by a majority, forcing the INC leader to contest from a different state.
“The fact that Rahul Gandhi is contesting again from this faraway seat of Wayanad (in the southern state of Kerala) is testimony to the fact that Congress has not been able to devise a strategy against Smriti,” Panickar said.
Irani, Banerjee, and Sitharaman are women who “rose through the ranks and fortified their position in the party and the government. They carved out their own space in the male-dominated sector and made it their own,” the analyst said. EFE
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