Bibi Rajinder Kaur Bhattal is the first and so far the only female to hold the office of Chief Minister in Punjab.
She served as the 14th Chief Minister of Punjab from 1996 to 1997 & 2nd Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab from 2004 to 2007.
Bhattal was 27 when she was pushed into politics. Busy preparing for her MA, Punjabi, exam, she was a reluctant politician.
Then PM Jawaharlal Nehru had urged her father Hira Singh Bhattal, to make her contest the polls.
Bhattal became the first female Chief Minister of Punjab when she took office after the resignation of Harcharan Singh Brar.
She had been in saddle for only three months when the 1997 elections were announced and the Akali Dal came into power.
Serving from November 1996 to February 1997, she is the eighth female Chief Minister in Indian history.
In January 2004, Bhattal accepted a position as deputy chief minister of Punjab, with other dissidents also taking roles in the cabinet.