Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sumitra Mahajan is all set to become the second woman Lok Sabha Speaker following the party’s decision to nominate her to the august post on Friday.
Mahajan is an eight time MP who represented Indore in Lok Sabha for the first time in 1989.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, she defeated Congress leader Satyanarayan Patel to wrest the seat for the eight time. A lawyer by profession, she was a junior minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime. The BJP’s decision has been conveyed to her by Union Home Minister and party president Rajnath Singh.
Mahajan’s name was doing the rounds for the presiding officer of the Lower House given her parliamentary experience.
Popularly known as “Tai” (sister), the 71-year-old veteran leader was part of the panel in the last Lok Sabha to preside over the House. If elected, she would be the second women speaker after Meira Kumar.
Published 04 June 2014, 17:27 IST