Former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is now the Opposition’s Presidential candidate after seventeen oppositions arrived at a consensus. But it was not so easy for Congress. While announcing Meira’s name candidature, Sonia Gandhi said, “17 Opposition parties have decided to jointly field Meira Kumar. We hope that other Opposition parties will join us without applying any condition”.
National Congress Party (NCP) chief Mr. Sharad Pawar told in the meeting that it is in all his years in politics he never heard the name of BJP’s Presidential candidate R N Kovind. Sharad Power said, “I was told that he is a lawyer so I called Mr. Satish Mishra of BSP. He too could not recall him despite his years in UP politics”.
Actually, Meira Kumar was a diplomat, who turned politician. She had a steady rise in echelons of power since she made her electoral debut in the mid-eighties. Mrs. Kumar was also the first woman to occupy the high position of the Lok Sabha Speaker between 2009 and 2014 during the UPA government.
The career of Mrs. Kumar in the tumble of politics began when she quit his high-profile job in Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and decided to fight the Lok Sabha polls in 1985. Meira Kumar was elected to Lok Sabha for the first time in 1985 from Uttar Pradesh, defeating top Dalit icon Mayawati and Ram Vilas Paswan.
Firstly she served the country as a Foreign Service officer then a five-term MP and after that as a Cabinet minister. Mrs. Kumar has traversed a varied course and long way that came in handy to her in running the Lok Sabha which often throws it into commotion scenes. She holds an MA degree and LLB along with an advanced diploma in the Spanish language.
Mrs. Kumar became a Member of Parliament (MP) for the 2nd time in 1996 and again in 1998 but lost her seat just one year later in 1999 when NDA returned to power. She has re-elected again in 2004 from Sasaram in Bihar and became an MP for the 5th time in 2009.
The Left’s Sitaram Yechury said that the decision to compete, Meira Kumar, is “unanimous” by and has secured the key support of Mayawati’s BSP Party. Mayawati had indicated that she did not want to be seen as blocking a Dalit candidate’s rise to the top office in the country, who is also known as Dalit icon. She said, “UPA nominee Meira Kumar is more capable and popular than NDA candidate. We hope for a positive result”.
Interestingly, during the meeting of all those opposition parties, no one had mentioned the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s desertion. However, Nitish Kumar’s decision did bring in urgency to arrive at a decision quickly. Lalu Prasad also commented in the meeting that, “There should not be any delay otherwise who knows more parties may change their thoughts”.
