Opposition’s candidate for Presidential election Meira Kumar is a well know Dalit leader of the country. A five time member of Parliament, Congress leader Meira Kumar is the daughter of former deputy Prime Minister, freedom fighter and social crusader Babu Jagjivan Ram. She is the second Dalit leader to become Speaker after GMC Balyogi.
Born in Patna in 1945, Meira Kumar is a lawyer by training. She joined the Indian foreign Service in 1973.
As an IFS officer she served in Spain and the UK. Apart from serving in the external affairs ministry. She made her foray into active politics in the mid eighties taking on her father’s legacy.
Meira Kumar took on Mayawati and Ram Vilas Paswan in Uttar Pradesh defeating them in 1985. She never looked back thereafter.
Meira Kumar shifted her attention to her father’s karm bhoomi Sasaram and has been elected five times from there.
She has been a member of the Congress working committee as well as General Secretary of the Party.
She has also been the Union social justice and empowerment as well as water resources Minister.
Apart from politics Meira Kumar is a multi faceted personality. She has been chancellor of Bihar Central University and has penned several poems that have been published.
She is also a keen horse rider and rifle shooter. But she probably best remembered as soft spoken always smiling yet firm speaker disciplining Parliamentarians in Lok Sabha.