Meira Kumar (born 31 March 1945) is an Indian politician of the Indian National Congress and a former diplomat. In June 2009 she became the first woman to be elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha, a post she held until 2014. The daughter of the Dalit leader and Deputy Prime Minister Jagjivan Ram, she was elected to Parliament five times and was the opposition’s candidate for President of India in 2017.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Meira Kumar |
| Born | 31 March 1945, Arrah, Bihar, India |
| Age | 81 |
| Party | Indian National Congress |
| Offices | Speaker of the Lok Sabha (2009–2014); Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment (2004–2009) |
| Service | Indian Foreign Service (1973–1985) |
| Education | Indraprastha College and Miranda House, Delhi (M.A. English); University of Delhi (LL.B.) |
| Parents | Jagjivan Ram, Indrani Devi |
| Spouse | Manjul Kumar (m. 1968) |
| Children | 3 |
Early Life
Meira Kumar was born in Arrah to Jagjivan Ram, a freedom fighter who served in the Union cabinet for more than thirty years, and Indrani Devi. She studied at Welham Girls’ School in Dehradun and Maharani Gayatri Devi School in Jaipur, took a master’s degree in English and a law degree in Delhi and was a medal-winning rifle shooter.
Career
She joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1973 and served in the embassies in Madrid and London and in the foreign ministry.
She left the service to contest the 1985 by-election in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, where she defeated both Mayawati and Ram Vilas Paswan. She later won Karol Bagh in Delhi twice and Sasaram in Bihar, her father’s old constituency, in 2004 and 2009. She was Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment in Manmohan Singh‘s first government.
Elected unopposed on 3 June 2009, she was known for her soft-spoken appeals to noisy members, especially “Baith jaiye” (“Please sit down”). Her term saw frequent disruption of the House over corruption scandals and the creation of Telangana. She was succeeded by Sumitra Mahajan.
In 2017 seventeen opposition parties nominated her for President. She lost to Ram Nath Kovind, winning about 34 per cent of the vote.
Personal Life
She married Manjul Kumar, a Supreme Court lawyer, in 1968. They have a son, Anshul, and two daughters, Swati and Devangana. She writes poetry in Hindi.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Meira Kumar born?
Meira Kumar was born on 31 March 1945 in Arrah, Bihar, India and is 81 years old.
Featured image: Meira Kumar, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, addresses a press conference, New Delhi, 4 January 2010. Photo by Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
