Sucheta Kriplani (25 June 1908 – 1 December 1974) was one of the outstanding faces of Indian freedom struggle and India’s first woman Chief Minister serving as the head of the Uttar Pradesh government from 1963 to 1967. Her role in shaping the contours of an independent India is notable, for she was a member of the Constituent Assembly tasked with formulating the decisive document that would be governing the newly-independent country.

   She was a passionate promoter of greater participation of women in politics. She has the credit for being the founder and first head of the All India Mahila Congress, the women’s wing of the Indian National Congress established in 1940 to instil patriotism in women. She entered into the vanguard of the national movement during the Quit India Movement. Her name figures together with other prominent women leaders of the time including Aruna Asaf Ali, Matangini Hazra, Usha Mehta and Nandini....