Tarkeshwari Sinha

Tarkeshwari Sinha Biography

Tarkeshwari Sinha was a politician and a freedom fighter. One of the prominent female politicians in the post-independent period, she was the first female deputy finance minister of India. She contested from the Barh constituency of Bihar, and was one among the first women Indian politicians elected to first Lok sabha. Gulzar’s highly acclaimed but controversial film, Aandhi was partially inspired from the life of Tarkeshwari Sinha, apart from India’s only female Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Though the movie had a theater release in 1975, the movie was banned by Indira a few months later, when emergency period was announced. Later the movie was shown on Doordarshan when Emergency period was lifted following Indira’s failure in general elections.

She was born in Patna on 26 December 1926. As a freedom fighter and independence movement activist she took active part in Quit India Movement. Following Indian independence, when first general assembly election was announced, she won it from Patna East constituency in 1952 on Congress ticket. Thus she was one among the earliest female politicians of Independent India. She was a prominent political figure in the 1950s. She got re-elected to Indian parliament 1957, 1962 and 1967 from Barh constituency in Congress ticket. Thus she has served as a parliamentarian for four terms. She lost 1971 Lok Sabha elections to Congress candidate, Dharamvir Sinha. With early 1970s she lost her prominence as a political leader losing in three general elections consecutively.

During 1958-1964, she served as Deputy Finance Minister in Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet, becoming the first woman politician to be assigned to this position. She was a close associative of Morarji Desai and joined him when he spilt with congress to form a splinter group. She also lost in the following Lok sabha elections 1971 to Congress candidate. In 1977 and 1978 she unsuccessfully contested from Begusarai and Samastipur as Congress candidate and lost to Janata Dal both times.

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Updated: April 24, 2016