Mamata Banerjee. 65
Chief Minister, West Bengal
From taking on the Governor to defying Central diktats on Covid-19 guidelines, the West Bengal chief minister is the last Opposition leader standing as the BJP gears up for state Assembly elections in 2021
The Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister has never hidden her open dislike of the BJP, and demonstrates it often, whether it is calling the ruling party at the Centre “cheatingbaaz” or criticising them for cancelling a national holiday on Christmas.
A vocal critic of the Central Government’s lockdown, she has blamed them for the “economic disaster” facing the nation. Regardless of relentless criticism from the BJP, she has held aloft the state’s status as a beacon of MSME development and in the social sector with schemes such as Kanyashree Prakalpa, to improve the life and status of girls by helping economically backward families with cash, and Sabooj Sathi, which provides bicycles to students.