Tarkeshwari Sinha

Tarkeshwari Sinha was an Indian politician and independence activist from Bihar. Among the first female politicians of the country, she took active role in the Quit India Movement. At the age of 26, she was elected to the 1st Lok Sabha from Patna East constituency in 1952. Subsequently, she was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1957, 1962 and 1967 from Barh constituency. She was the first female Deputy Finance Minister in the union cabinet led by prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru from 1958 to 1964. She had also led a delegation to the U.N. and Tokyo. Gulzar’s critically acclaimed movie, Aandhi was partly inspired by Tarkeshwari Sinha, apart from Indira Gandhi.