Meira Kumar

Meira Kumar (born March 31, 1945 in a rural district of Bihar, India) is an Indian politician. She has been elected to the Lok Sabha (the lower house in the Indian parliament) five times. She was elected unopposed as the first woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha on June 3, 2009. Kumar replaced retiring Somnath Chatterjee. She left office on May 18, 2014.

Kumar was the daughter of Babu Jagjivan Ram, a former Deputy Prime Minister of India. She studied at Cambridge University. After Cambridge, she joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1973. She was elected to parliament as a member of the Indian National Congress.

Kumar has been nominated as a joint presidential candidate by the leading opposition parties for 2017 Presidential election. She lost the election to Conservative Ram Nath Kovind after the results were announced on 20 July 2017.

References

Category:1945 births
Category:Living people
Category:Speakers of the Lok Sabha
Category:Bihari politicians
Category:Indian National Congress politicians