Meira Kumar

Early life

Meira Kumar was born on 31 March 1945, in Bhojpur district, Bihar of the British India (present day Bihar, India) to Jagjivan Ram, a Dalit Chamar leader and former Deputy Prime Minister and Indrani Devi, a prominent leader of the Indian freedom struggle. Growing up, Kumar shared a close relationship with her mother, with whom she spent most of her time. She has described her as the biggest influence from her childhood.

Kumar attended the Welham Girls' School, Dehradun and Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls' Public School in Jaipur. She studied at Banasthali Vidyapith for a short duration. She completed her Master's degree and Bachelors of Law from Indraprastha College and the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi respectively. She also received an honorary doctorate from Banasthali Vidyapith in 2010.

Kumar worked as a social worker during her youth, actively participating in movements supporting social reforms, human rights, and democratic ideas. She was appointed as the Chairperson of National Drought Relief Committee constituted by the Congress during 1967 famine in region of Bihar. As the head of the commission, Kumar launched a Family Adoption Scheme under which drought-affected families were provided support from volunteering households.

Career

Foreign Service

Kumar joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1973 and was posted as language trainee at the Embassy of India Spain. During this period, she obtained a diploma in Spanish. Later, she was posted at the High Commission of India, United Kingdom . After working as a diplomat for a decade, Kumar quit the Indian Foreign Services in 1985 and decided to enter politics after being encouraged by her father Jagjivan Ram and later Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi .

Political career

Kumar entered electoral politics in 1985, when she received an Indian National Congress' nomination for the Lok Sabha from the Bijnor constituency bye-poll in Uttar Pradesh. She defeated, as a newcomer, two veteran dalit leaders including Ram Vilas Paswan of the Janata Dal and Mayawati of the Bahujan Samajwadi Party. Following her election to the Lok Sabha, Kumar was appointed as member of the Ministry of External Affairs' Consultative Committee in 1986.

Meera Kumar lost elections for 9th Lok Sabha (1989) and 10th Lok Sabha from Sasaram, but went on to win elections for the 11th (in 1996) and the 12th Lok Sabhas from Karol Bagh in Delhi. She lost her seat to the candidate from the Bhartiya Janata Party in 1999 election, but was able re-elected with a significant majority from her father's former constituency of Sasaram in Bihar in 2004 and 2009. In the 2014 general election and in 2019, Kumar contested from Sasaram and lost both times to her nemesis Chhedi Paswan who has defeated her in Sasaram four times.

Following the Congress party's win in the 2004 Indian general elections, Kumar served in the United Progressive Alliance's Government as the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment from 2004 to 2009, under the premiership of Manmohan Singh.

She entered active politics in the year 1985. She has been a Lok Sabha MP five times. She has also been a minister in the central government.

In 2009, the United Progressive Alliance returned to power after an improved performance in the general election and Kumar was, on 22 May 2009, briefly inducted as member of the centre's cabinet as the Minister for Water Resources.

However, she was later nominated for the position of the Speaker of Lok Sabha and she submitted her resignation three days after assuming ministerial office. Kumar was then elected as the first ever woman speaker of Lok Sabha and remained in office from 2009 to 2014.

2017 presidential election

Main article: 2017 Indian presidential election

Kumar secured the United Progressive Alliance's nomination for the 2017 Indian presidential election, becoming just the third woman to be nominated for president of India by a major political bloc, after Pratibha Patil. Although she received support from most of the major opposition parties for her election to the office, she went on to lose to the National Democratic Alliance nominee Ram Nath Kovind.

Kovind received a total of 2,930 votes (which included both Members of Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assemblies) amounting to electoral college votes of 702,044. He defeated Kumar, who received a total of 1,844 votes amounting to 367,314 votes in terms of electoral college.

National Legislators' Conference

• In September 2022, Meira Kumar was appointed a key patron of NLC Bharat.

Lok Sabha electoral history

Meira Kumar has been elected 5 times as Lok Sabha MP. She lost from Sasaram in 2019.

Explanatory notes

References

References

1. (3 June 2009). "Profile: Meira Kumar, first female Dalit Speaker". oneindia.in.
2. (26 December 2011). "Manoj Tibrewal Aakash interviewed Meira Kumar for DD News's Ek Mulaqat (Full Interview)". [[DD News.
3. (23 June 2017). "Oppn prez nominee Meira Kumar an acclaimed rifle shooter". Times of India.
4. (8 October 2012). "Banasthali created a force of empowered women – Times of India".
5. ["Biography] Lok Sabha".
6. (April 2023). "Detailed profile: Smt. Meira Kumar". [[Government of India]].
7. Mariet D'Souza, Shanthie. "Meira Kumar".
8. (22 June 2017). "Law, foreign service, politics: Know Oppn's presidential candidate Meira Kumar". [[Hindustan Times]].
9. "Bijnor(Uttar Pradesh) Lok Sabha Election Results 2014 with Sitting MP and Party Name".
10. "Election Commission of India, General Elections, 2014 (16th Lok Sabha)". [[Election Commission of India]].
11. (17 July 2017). "Know few things about veteran politician Meira Kumar.". Prabhat Khabar.
12. (4 June 2009). "India: Woman Wins Post of Speaker".
13. (4 June 2009). "Meira Kumar brings Jagjivan to fore".
14. Bhardwaj, Supriya. (23 June 2017). "Presidential election: Meira Kumar to file nomination on June 27, thanks Opposition parties for nominating her".
15. (21 July 2017). "Kovind first President from Sangh, cross-voting boosts margin".
16. (July 21, 2017). "In Defeat, Opposition's Meira Kumar Breaks 50-Year-Old Record".
17. (2017-06-23). "Presidential Polls: Meira Kumar will challenge Ram Nath Kovind, BSP and SP go with Opposition choice". [[The Indian Express]].
18. "Ex-LS Speakers hold round table discussion to promote PM's mantra to "reform, perform and transform"".
19. "Member Profile". Lok Sabha.