New Delhi: The first woman ever to occupy the prestigious seat of Lok Sabha Speaker, Meira Kumar is the daughter of Jagjivan Ram. A former Indian Foreign Service diplomat, Meira Kumar has her roots in the Congress party. During Indira Gandhi's rule, Meira's father Jagjivan Ram was a powerful minister. He looked after the vital portfolios of Railways and Defence. He was considered the richest politician of his time. Jagjivan Ram was a notable Congress leader during the freedom struggle and he was a staunch votary of the rights of Dalits. But unlike her father, Meira never had to go through a tough childhood. Jagjivan Ram got married at a very early age of 8 years to a freedom fighter Indrani Devi. Meira was born in 1945 in Patna. Sasaram, Jagjivan Ram's political constituency was consecutively inherited by her which later helped her getting re-elected with a record majority. After graduating in Law and attaining a masters degree in English Literature, Meira sought for Indian Foreign Services in 1973. She landed up serving at many embassies across the world like Spain, UK and Mauritius. Meira entered politics in 1985 with her election from Bijnor constituency in Uttar Pradesh. She became an MP in both 11th and 12th Lok Sabha by winning from Karol Bagh constituency.In 1999, after she had lost her seat, Meira's inherited constituency Sasaram re-elected her with a record number of votes.Meira was given the portfolio of Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment in Manmohan led coalition government in 2004.In UPA-II she was given charge of the Water Resources and she beacame Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.Married to Supreme Court lawyer Majul Kumar, Meira's in-laws' house too has a forte in politics. Meira's mother-in-law Sumitra Devi became the first ever woman to become a minister in Bihar cabinet in 1963. Her father-in-law was a freedom fighter and a poet and has been published. In Patna, there are roads named after Meira's mother-in-law Sumitra Devi and she received a state funeral when she died in 2001.Together Meira and Manjul Kumar have three children, one son Anshul and two daughters Swati and Devangana.Let's have a look at some interesting photographs of Meira and her family:
Updated on: November 05, 2013 6:57 IST
