Sucheta Kripalani (1908–1974)

Sucheta Kripalani was a freedom fighter who actively participated in the Indian National Movement. She was the first women chief minister in any state in post-independence India.

Early Life and Family of Sucheta Kripalani

Sucheta Kripalani was born Sucheta Majumdar in a Bengali family on 25 June 1908, in Ambala in present-day Haryana. She and her sister Sulekha were influenced by the Indian National Movement right since her childhood. She completed her education at Indraprastha College, Delhi, and St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. Thereafter, she became a lecturer of Constitutional History at Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

At the age of 28, in 1936, Sucheta married J.B. Kripalani popularly known as Acharya Kriplani, a prominent leader of the Indian National Congress.

Role in Indian National Movement

In 1938, Sucheta Kripalani on the persuasion of J.B. Kripalani joined the Indian National Congress. She actively participated in the Indian National Movement during the 1940s. In 1940, she founded the Indian National Congress women’s wing, the All India Mahila Congress.

During the Quit India Movement in 1942, she along with Aruna Asaf Ali and Usha Mehta came to the forefront and actively participated in the movement. She was amongst a few leaders (other prominent leaders were Jay Prakash Narayan, S.M. Joshi, and Achyut Patwardhan) who evaded the arrest and went into hiding, and led the Quit India mass movement. However, she was eventually arrested in 1944 and served a one-year prison sentence in Lucknow jail for her anti-British political activities.

Mahatma Gandhi was impressed by the dedication of Sucheta Kripalani. In 1946 Mahatma Gandhi appointed Sucheta as secretary of the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust.

In October 1946 communal riots spread in the Noakhali district (Chittagong division, Bangladesh) and adjoining regions wherein Hindus were massacred. In November 1946, Mahatma Gandhi visited the Noakhali district and organized prayer meetings to pacify communities. Sucheta Kripalani accompanied Mahatma Gandhi and played a crucial role in these prayer meetings. She played a vital role in rehabilitating refugees after the partition of India. She also served as a Secretary to the Relief and Rehabilitation Committee set up by the Congress party.

Contribution to the Constitution of India

In 1946 Sucheta Kripalani was elected to the 299-member Constituent Assembly from United Province. Thus, she became one of the handfuls of women consisting of 15 female members who got elected to the Constituent Assembly. She was a member of the Flag Presentation Committee, which presented the first Indian Flag before the Constituent Assembly. She became a part of the subcommittee that handed over the task of laying down the charter for the Constitution of India.

On 14 August 1947, she sang Vande Mataram in the Independence Session of the Constituent Assembly a few minutes before Jawaharlal Nehru delivered his famous “Tryst with Destiny” speech and concluded by reciting Sare Jahan Se Achha and the National Anthem.

Post-independence Contributions of Sucheta Kripalani

Sucheta Kripalani remained socially and politically active. In 1949, she was chosen as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. In 1951, J.B. Kripalani formed Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (KMPP) and Sucheta joined her husband. In the first Lok Sabha general elections she contested from New Delhi from the KMPP party and defeated the Congress candidate and was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP). Later the KMPP party was merged with Socialist Party and Sucheta Kripalani returned to the Congress party. She was elected MP in the 1957 and 1967 Lok Sabha general elections.

In October 1963, she became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and served the office from October 1963 to March 1967. Thus, she was the first women chief minister of any state in India. About two and half years later, in January 1966 Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister of India after the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri.

Sucheta Kripalani retired from active politics in 1971. She died of a heart attack on 1 December 1974. Her husband J.B. Kripalani died on 19 March 1982.