Mrs. Indira Gandhi was elected to the executive body of the Congress Party in 1955. In 1959, she became the president of the party and in 1964 she was appointed to an important post in Lal Bahadur Shastri’s ruling government. Following the death of Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi was elected as head of the Congress Party and then became the first woman Prime Minister of India.