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Meira Kumar Biography

About Meira Kumar

Meira Kumar, United Progressive Alliance’s nominee for President of India in the 2017 election, has been a five-time member of the Parliament during her political career. Kumar also holds the honour of being the first woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha during the period 2009-2014.

A lawyer by profession and also a former diplomat, the 72-year old Meira Kumar has served as a Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in Manmohan Singh’s Congress-led Government.

A pleasant and polite, but reserved personality, Kumar has had the experience of serving with the Indian Foreign Services and has worked in foreign embassies including Spain, Mauritius and the United Kingdom.

Meira Kumar Childhood

Meira Kumar belongs to the Schedule Caste and was born in the Arrah district of Bihar. Her father was a prominent Dalit leader and erstwhile Deputy Prime Minister of India, Jagjivan Ram, Her mother, Indrani Devi, was a freedom fighter.

Kumar completed her education from Welham Girls School, Dehradun, and Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls’ Public School in Jaipur. She did her Post Graduation in M.A. and L.L.B from Indraprastha College and Miranda House, Delhi University. She also received an honorary doctorate from Banasthali Vidyapith in 2010.

Meira Kumar is a fine sportsperson. She is a good horse rider and has also won medals in rifle shooting. She speaks Spanish fluently.

Family

Meira Kumar is married to Manjul Kumar, a Supreme Court lawyer. He also hold 50% stake in the company GK Agriproduct Pvt Ltd. They have three children – a son and two daughters.

Professional Career

After the completion of M.A. L.L.B, Kumar started her career in 1973 in the Indian Foreign Service as a diplomat. She was posted in Mauritius, the United Kingdom and Spain during her stint with the IFS till 1984. She became a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association in 1980.

Meira Kumar Political Career

Kumar quit the IFS and joined politics in 1984 when she contested the election from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh. She beat prominent heavyweight politicians including Mayawati and Ram Vilas Paswan, both Dalit leaders, in the election.

Since her entry into the political arena, Kumar has been a member of the 6th, 11th and 12th Lok Sabhas from Karol Bagh in Delhi. In 1996, Kumar lost her seat to the BJP opponent. However, she was re-elected in 2004 as well as 2009 from her father’s former constituency, Sasaram in Bihar.

Kumar lost the election in 2014 by a mere margin of 327 votes to Chhedi Paswan from Sasaram.

In 2009, she briefly served as the Union Minister for Water Resources before being nominated for the position of the Speaker of Lok Sabha. She holds the esteemed position of being the first woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha having been elected unopposed. She served in this position from 2009-2014.

Meira Kumar As The President Of India

Meira Kumar aims to fight the Presidential Elections based on ideology rather than caste. Her ideologies include democratic values, inclusiveness, social justice, freedom of press and last but not the least the destruction of the caste system. If elected, her experience with the IFS will surely come in handy when she has to receive diplomats from across the globe as the President of India.


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