India’s parliament has elected its first woman speaker,
who is also a member of the low-caste “untouchable” Dalit community.
NEW DELHI (AFP) –
Meira Kumar, 64, was elected unopposed by a voice vote in India’s 543 seat lower house of parliament.
“For the first time a woman member has been elected speaker and that too a woman from the Dalit community,” Indian Manmohan Singh said after Ms Kumar had taken her seat of office.
“In electing you… we members of parliament pay tribute to the women of our country and the great contribution that they have made.”
A five-term MP, she was a career diplomat who entered politics in 1985.
In the April-May national polls, she was elected to parliament from the impoverished eastern state of Bihar.
Ms Kumar had described her nomination as India’s first woman speaker as a “historic moment” for the country and an “overwhelming moment” for herself.
Her name was put forward by the Congress party following its resounding general election victory, which guaranteed that the party’s nominee for speaker would be elected.
The motion to elect Kumar was moved by Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi and seconded by opposition leader LK Advani from the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
The media was supportive, with the Hindu newspaper noting that Kumar brought years of experience as both an MP and a minister to the speaker’s office.
“She seems to have the desired qualities of amiability, patience and commitment to fair play,” the Hindu said.
The task of the speaker in India’s often volatile parliament can be an onerous one.
Rather than debate a bill that they oppose, MPs often storm the well of the house in large numbers and disrupt proceedings until the speaker is forced to adjourn the session.
Political analyst Neerja Choudhury said Ms Kumar’s nomination was a “conscious decision” on the part of Congress to strengthen its support base among India’s 160 million Dalits, also known as “untouchables”.
In recent years, many Dalit voters have switched their support to regional parties with a specific “Dalit agenda” of alleviating the problems faced by India’s lowest castes.
Shunned by higher castes, Dalits generally perform the lowliest occupations, including scavenging on rubbish dumps, and are the poorest in terms of income, literacy and land.
Naming Ms Kumar as speaker “also projects the Congress as pro-women,” political analyst and author Rasheed Kidwai said.
– Source : AFP
