[1] In 1961, Eskelinen became the executive director of the women's branch of the Agrarian League (renamed the Centre Party in 1965) in Kuopio.

[3] In 1966, Eskelinen was elected to the Parliament of Finland to represent the constituency of Kuopio (now Northern Savonia) as a member of the Centre Party.

[1] From 1970 to 1972, she was the deputy chair of the Centre Party parliamentary group, and she was a presidential elector in the 1968, 1978, and 1982 elections.

[3] President Koivisto awarded her the honorary title of regional councillor [fi] (kotiseutuneuvos) in 1988.

[6] In 2009, she was briefly hospitalized after she fell on a slippery road until she was found by a dog who alerted its owner.