As leader of India's ruling party, Sonia Gandhi, 65, who was ranked sixth on Forbes list of Power Women, "has the reins of the world's second-most-populous country and tenth-largest economy", the US business magazine said.
"Son Rahul is next in line to take over India's most famous political dynasty," it suggested.
Listing Manmohan Singh, 80, 19th on the power list, Forbes says: "Oxford- and Cambridge-educated economist is the architect of India's economic reforms, but Singh's quiet intellectualism is increasingly seen as timid and soft."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel moves up to number two from fourth place last year, followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin (No. 3), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Co-chair Bill Gates (No. 4) and Pope Benedict XVI (No. 5).
