From the time she joined Parliament in 1985 after her stint as an Indian Foreign Service officer, Meira Kumar, Presidential candidate of the Opposition, has had a long political journey.

She comes with a political pedigree: her father, Jagjivan Ram, who went on to become Deputy Prime Minister, had been the Congress’s most influential Dalit leader since Independence.

She became MP five times and became the Speaker of the Lok Sabha in 2009.

Before becoming Presiding Officer of the Lower House, she served as a Cabinet Minister from 2004 to 2009, holding the portfolios of Social Justice and Empowerment and Water Resources.

Diplomatic career

Ms. Kumar was born in 1945 in Patna. She completed her LL.B. and acquired a Master’s degree in English as well as an advanced diploma in Spanish. She joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1973 and served in Spain, the United Kingdom and Mauritius.

Ms. Kumar’s style evolved with her roles, say observers. If her speeches as an MP in the 1990s were interspersed with Urdu poetry and her unique way of bringing the House in order as Speaker became famous. She would repeatedly say “Baith jaayiye [please sit down]”, to Opposition MPs whenever there were disruptions in House, an expression that became associated with her.

Her stint as Minister was, however, formal.

As Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister, she would speak in a measured way in press conferences, and would share only as much information as was necessary.

But Congress leaders know her as a caring person and for her equanimity.

‘Understands India’

“Once, as a young, first-time MP, I recommended a foreign delegation to visit Parliament. It seems there were some procedural issues and she, as Speaker, made enquiries as to who recommended the delegation. She talked to me about it and advised me to be more careful in future, but in a steady, almost motherly fashion,” a young Dalit leader of the Congress, Ashok Tanwar, told The Hindu. “She is erudite and understands India well. Yet she is a very patient listener.”

Rajesh Ram, MLA from the Kutumba constituency in Bihar, says: “Though I had not met her too many times earlier, she would meet just as a family member and speak in Bhojpuri to me.”

Ms. Kumar thanked the Opposition parties for having chosen her as the candidate for this contest. She has been fielded as the more experienced Dalit counter to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Ram Nath Kovind, though the government at the Centre is on a sound wicket in the electoral college.