Shashikala Kakodkar (7 January 1935 – 28 October 2016), popularly known as Tai (; ), was a prominent leader of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). She served as the Chief Minister of Goa, Daman and Diu on two occasions, and also was the President of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. She is the first (and as of 2023, the only) woman to serve as the Chief Minister of Goa, Daman and Diu. Early life and background Shashikala Kakodkar was born on 7 January 1935 at Pernem, Goa, Portuguese India, to Dayanand and Sunandabai Bandodkar as their eldest child. Her younger siblings were Usha Vengurlekar, Kranti Rao, Jyoti Bandekar and Siddharth Bandodkar. Kakodkar completed her elementary education from the Mushtifund School and completed her matriculation from the People's High School in Panaji. At age eleven, she participated in Goa's liberation movement by shouting patriotic slogans, and was beaten by Portuguese police officers for doing so. She graduated from Karnatak University, Dharwad, with a Bachelor of Arts degree, where she studied anthropology, sociology and history. She completed her postgraduate M.A. degree from Mumbai's Elphinstone College. In 1963, the first democratically held elections to the Legislative Assembly of Goa, Daman and Diu led to her father Dayanand Bandodkar's election as the first chief minister. That year, she married Gurudatt Kakodkar, and was appointed as the general manager of the Bandodkar Group of Companies in 1968. She was also a member of the Youth Red Cross Society, All India Women's Conference and the Central Social Welfare Board. She built her power base around the Government Primary Teachers' Association. Entry into politics Shashikala Kakodkar was engaged in social work ever since her return from Mumbai after obtaining her postgraduate education. She contested the 1967 Goa, Daman & Diu Legislative Assembly election from the Ponda constituency as a candidate of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and won by a huge majority, making her the second woman member of the Goa, Daman & Diu Legislative Assembly. In the 1972 Goa, Daman & Diu Legislative Assembly election, Kakodkar successfully contested as a Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party candidate from the Bicholim constituency. Minister of State Following her victory in the 1972 Assembly elections, she was appointed as a Minister of State in the government led by her father, Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar. She held the portfolios of Education, Public Health, Social Welfare, Public Assistance, Provedoria and Small Savings. On 12 August 1973,