India’s election machinery has had a man at its helm for most of its history.

Gyanesh Kumar became India’s 26th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in February 2025. Since then, the office has remained under intense public and legal scrutiny.

But there is another number worth looking at.

Since the Election Commission of India (ECI) was established in 1950, 26 people have served as Chief Election Commissioner. Twenty-five were men. Only one was a woman.

Her name was V S Ramadevi.

She took charge on 26 November 1990. Sixteen days later, her tenure ended.

Who was V S Ramadevi?

Born in 1934 in Andhra Pradesh, Ramadevi was a lawyer by training. She spent decades working within India’s legal and administrative system, eventually becoming Secretary of the Legislative Department in the Ministry of Law and Justice.

Her 16 days at the Election Commission were only one chapter in a career that would see her break several barriers.

She later became the first woman Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha and the first woman Governor of Karnataka.

Her appointment as CEC came during a period of political uncertainty.

On 7 November 1990, Prime Minister V P Singh lost a confidence vote. Three days later, Chandra Shekhar was sworn in as Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, the then CEC, R V S Peri Sastri, died in office on 25 November.

The very next day, Ramadevi took charge as CEC.

Her appointment did not come completely out of the blue. At the time, she was the Secretary of the Legislative Department and was already familiar with the Election Commission and its work.

According to former Election Commission legal adviser S K Mendiratta, Ramadevi knew Peri Sastri and would visit the Commission to discuss legislative drafting. One issue they worked on was the proposed 73rd Constitutional Amendment concerning gram panchayats.

Mendiratta later described her as “extremely intelligent” and “a very good draftsman”.

There was also a political twist to her appointment.

According to Mendiratta, the V P Singh government had intended to appoint Ramadevi as a regular CEC. Her file was cleared by Singh and then sent to the President for approval.

But before the process was completed, the government........

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