45. Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi is an Indian politician. She is the wife of former prime minister of India Rajiv Gandhi. She entered into active politics after the assassination of her husband Rajiv Gandhi. She was born on December 9, 1947 in Italy. When congress party was sinking, then she steadied the ship and became the president of Indian National Congress. While Congress-led UPA was in power from 2004 to 2014, she played a vital role in the Indian politics. She was responsible for the implementation of many welfare programmes for the weaker sections of the society. NREGA (now known as MGNREGS), the job security scheme for providing manual non-skilled work for 100 days in rural areas, was launched during the tenure of the UPA government. The Right to Information, and Food Security Bill were other important schemes implemented during the period of UPA government at the centre. Hence, she is considered as one of the most powerful women politicians in the world.
