Meira takes oath as Speaker

Amid rousing applause from all corners of the Lok Sabha, senior Congress MP Meira Kumar took oath as the first woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha today.

Kumar hails from the Dalit community and is better known as the daughter of former deputy prime minister Babu Jagjivan Ram. At her first press conference, Kumar said it was a matter of pride that a woman had been elected President of India and Speaker, and it would be her endeavour to ensure there was a consensus for the Women’s Reservation Bill.

“This (her election) just shows that the position of women is getting stronger and stronger, Kumar said, adding that these were not just symbolic gestures. She also said the country had been witness to another phenomenon at the hustings: the election of a large number of young people.

Kumar said she was particularly enthused by the near unanimous support in her election as Speaker. Interestingly, she said even as she was taking oath as Cabinet minister for Water Resources, she knew that she would be moving to another job soon. She was asked repeatedly how she would weather the challenge of running the House especially when so many people were keen to prevent it from working. “When the House doesn’t run and tempers run high, we have to talk to parties to make sure they let it run,” she said.

That Kumar knew what she wanted was clear. Faced with a barrage of questions about what her predecessor had said and done, including the creation of the Lok Sabha channel, she contested the assertion that the Lok Sabha channel should be closed because it was “duplicating the work of Doordarshan”. She also said though it was a personal wish to see the Women’s Reservation Bill that envisages 33 per cent of the seats in all legislatures reserved for women, she would endeavour to create consensus on this.

Kumar was elected from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh in 1985, defeating Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati. She became a Member of Parliament in the 11th and 12th Lok Sabha from Delhi’s Karol Bagh constituency.

In 1999, she lost her seat, but was re-elected by a record majority from Sasaram in Bihar in 2004.

In 2004, she was inducted into the first Manmohan Singh Cabinet, as the minister of social justice and empowerment.

On May 29, 2009, she assumed charge as the Union minister of water resources in the newly elected UPA government.