The Force

As India’s first female Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman wields control over one of the largest armies in the world with disarming diplomacy and quiet grit. She lets Sunetra Choudhury in on her secret to being boss

The thing about Nirmala Sitharaman is that she hardly ever gets agitated, angry or belligerent. It’s a rare quality to keep calm as a political spokesperson on Indian news television and perhaps, it’s this quality that made her stand out when she first burst onto the scene in 2010, when she was announced as the spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which she had joined in 2006. Narendra Modi was then Chief Minister of Gujarat, and even as he was about to begin his journey towards the centre of power in the capital, Sitharaman was already on track to making history as India’s first full-time woman Defence Minister. And her poise and composure would become key qualities she’d need to lead one of the largest armed forces in the world.

The 59-year-old had only been in politics for a decade, and had risen fast. She was one of the spokespersons that Modi picked for his council of ministers when he became Prime Minister in 2014; in September 2017, she was already being promoted to Cabinet rank. Her exact portfolio hadn’t been revealed just yet. “I was just doing interviews after being sworn in, when I received a call from the Cabinet Secretary,” recalls Sitharaman, of the time she got the most important job of her life.