Tarkeshwari Sinha (26 December 1926 – 14 August 2007) was an Indian politician and independence activist from

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. 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 The First Lok Sabha was constituted on 17 April 1952 after India's first general election. The 1st Lok Sabha lasted its full tenure of five years and was dissolved on 4 April 1957. The First Session of this Lok Sabha commenced on 13 May 1952. To ...

from Patna East constituency in 1952. Subsequently, she was re-elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

in 1957, 1962 and 1967 from

Barh Barh is a sub division of Patna District. It is a town and one of the 6 sub-division of Patna district, Bihar in India. It is located on the southern bank of the Ganges. Population , Barh had a total population of 316,348 residents, with 16 ...

constituency. She was the first female Deputy Finance Minister in the union cabinet led by prime minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

from 1958 to 1964. She had also led a delegation to the U.N. and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Gulzar Gulzar (born Sampooran Singh Kalra; 18 August 1934) is an Indian Urdu poetry, Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this era. He starte ...

’s critically acclaimed movie,

Aandhi ''Aandhi'' () is a 1975 Indian political drama film starring Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen, and directed by Gulzar. At the time it was alleged that the film was based on the life of the then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her relationship wit ...

was partly inspired by Tarkeshwari Sinha, apart from

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

Early life

She was born in Tulsigarh village near

Chandi Chandi (, ) or Chandika () is a Hindu deity. Chandika is a form of goddess Durga. She shares similarities with the Goddess Chamunda, not only in name but also in attributes and iconography. Due to these similarities, some consider them to ...

under

Nalanda District Nalanda district is one of the thirty-eight Districts of Bihar, districts of the state of Bihar in India. Bihar Sharif is the administrative headquarters of this district. The districts is home to the ancient Nalanda Mahavihara a UNESCO World He ...

in a

Bhumihar Bhumihar, also locally called Bhuinhar and Babhan, a Hindu Indian caste system, caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila (region), Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya ...

family. She was a student of Bankipore Girls College, now known as Magadh Mahila College, in Patna. She was the President of the Bihar Students Congress, which had broken away from the

All India Students Federation The All India Students' Federation (AISF) is the oldest Student society, student organisation in India, founded in 1936. Pre-independence AISF was founded on 12 August 1936, with guidance and cooperation from the Indian independence movemen ...

. She did her M.Sc. in economics from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. She actively participated in the Quit India Movement.

Career

She contested elections from the Barh constituency in Bihar. After Indian Independence, she won the first general assembly elections from the Patna East Constituency in 1952, after getting a ticket from the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. Through the INC, she got re-elected in 1957, 1962 and 1967. Sinha appeared on the game show

To Tell the Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

on 19 November 1957, fooling two of the four members on the panel.YouTube
/ref> She was considered close to

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian politician and Indian independence activist, independence activist who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India between 1977 and 1979 leading th ...

and was on his side in the battle of succession between Desai and

to replace

Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri (; born Lal Bahadur Srivastava; 2 October 190411 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1964 to 1966. He previously served as Minister ...

as Prime Minister. When Desai and other leaders resigned from Congress to form a splinter group, she, too, joined it. In the Indira wave during 1971 Lok Sabha elections, she lost from

as Congress(O) candidate to the Congress nominee Dharamvir Sinha, her first taste of electoral defeat. She lost the assembly election next year as well, and returned to Indira Gandhi's party. In 1977, she fought Lok Sabha election from Begusarai as a Congressional candidate and lost in the Janata wave as Congress was completely routed in Bihar. After this defeat, she fought a by-election to Lok Sabha in November 1978 from

Samastipur Samastipur is a City and Municipal Corporation in Bihar, India. It is the headquarter of Samastipur district and comes under Darbhanga division. The Burhi Gandak River flows through the city. It is one of the five railway divisions of ECR, H ...

as Congressional candidate but lost again. Eventually, she retired from politics and began social work.

Social Work

Tarkeshwari Sinha had set up a hospital, in Tulsigarh, in the memory of her brother Capt Girish Nandan Singh, pilot with Air India who died in an air crash in New Delhi. She had raised nearly Rs 25 lakh (a large amount at the time) for the construction of the two-floored hospital where treatment was almost free. She also took the initiative to construct a road to link the village with Chandi and Harnaut in Nalanda.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinha 1926 births 2007 deaths 20th-century Indian women politicians India MPs 1952–1957 India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1962–1967 India MPs 1967–1970 Indian independence activists from Bihar Indian National Congress politicians from Bihar Lok Sabha members from Bihar Politicians from Patna Union deputy ministers of India Women in Bihar politics Women Indian independence activists Women union ministers of India Indian National Congress (Organisation) politicians