Forbes: The 100 Most Powerful Women #59 Mayawati Kumari

Chief minister, Uttar Pradesh

In the running to be prime minister, from her perch as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state. In 1995, at 39, she was the youngest politician elected to the post and was also the first Dalit (India's lowest, "untouchable" caste) to head a state government. Commands a large following and goes simply by Mayawati. In 2007 she shrewdly built an alliance with Brahmins, and the Bahujan Samaj Party, which she heads, has started to increase its national presence. Some say she could trail-blaze again as India's first Dalit prime minister.