Meira Kumar was born on 31 March 1945, in Bhojpur district, Bihar of the British India (present day Bihar, India) to Jagjivan Ram, an Depressed Class leader and former Deputy Prime Minister and Indrani Devi, a prominent leader of the Indian freedom struggle.[1] 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.[2]
Kumar worked as a social worker during her youth, actively participating in movements supporting social reforms, human rights, and democratic ideas.[citation needed] 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.[6]
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.[6] Later, she was posted at the High Commission of India, United Kingdom .[6] 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 .[7]
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 12thLok 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.[10]
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.[11]
In 2009, the United Progressive Alliance returned to power after an improved performance in the general election and Kumar was, on May 22, 2009, briefly inducted as member of the centre's cabinet as the Minister for Water Resources.[citation needed]
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.[12][13]
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.[15] He defeated Kumar, who received a total of 1,844 votes amounting to 367,314 votes in terms of electoral college.[16][17]
^While Lakshmi Sahgal was also nominated by the Left Front during the 11th presidential election, she secured only 10 percent of the total votes polled.
