Annie Mascarene was one of the fifteen women leaders elected from Kerala to the 299-member Indian Constituent Assembly constituted in 1946. She was a distinguished lawyer, a remarkable parliamentarian, a social activist, and an ardent freedom fighter.

    In the Constituent Assembly, which drafted the nation's constitution, Annie Mascarene represented the Princely State of Travancore and the Cochin Union. She was a member of the select committee of the Assembly that looked at the Hindu Code Bill as well Mascarene was one of the top leaders of the movement for the integration of the princely Travancore State with the Indian union. She was a gifted orator.

    She was the first woman leader from Kerala to serve as a Member of Parliament where she raised concerns about under-representation of women in politics. She also made history by becoming the only female member elected to the first Lok Sabha in 1951-1952, out of ten....