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Sumitra Mahajan
Sumitra Mahajan.jpg
16th Speaker of the Lok Sabha
In office
6 June 2014 – 17 June 2019
President
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai
Leader of the House Narendra Modi
Preceded by Meira Kumar
Succeeded by Om Birla
Union Minister of State, Government of India
In office
October 1999 – May 2004
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Ministry
Term
Petroleum and Natural Gas May 2003 - May 2004
Communication and Information Technology June 2002 - May 2003
Human Resource Development October 1999 - June 2002
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
1989–2019
Preceded by Prakash Chandra Sethi
Succeeded by Shankar Lalwani
Constituency Indore
Deputy Mayor, Municipal Corporation, Indore
In office
1984–1985
Personal details
Born
Sumitra Sathe

(1943-04-12) 12 April 1943 (age 80)
Chiplun, Bombay Presidency, British India (present-day Maharashtra, India)
Political party Bharatiya Janata Party
Other political
affiliations
National Democratic Alliance
Spouse Jayant Mahajan
Children 2 sons
Parents
  • Purushotam Neelkanth Sathe (father)
  • Usha Sathe (mother)
Alma mater Indore University
Awards Padma Bhushan (2021)

Sumitra Mahajan (née Sathe; born 12 April 1943) is an Indian politician who was the Speaker of Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament from 2014 to 2019. She belongs to Bharatiya Janata Party. She represented the Indore constituency of Madhya Pradesh from 1989 to 2019 as the longest serving Woman Member of Parliament,

She also served for as a Union Minister of State from 1999 to 2004, holding the portfolios for Human Resource Development, Communications and Information Technology and Petroleum and Natural Gas. She also held position of Chairperson of Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment (2004-2009) and Standing Committee on Rural Development (2009-2014). She was the eldest and seniormost among woman Members of Parliament in the 16th Lok Sabha. She is the second woman after Meira Kumar to be elected as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. She was awarded India's third highest civilian award the Padma Bhushan in 2021.

Early life and education

Sumitra Mahajan was born in a Chitpavan Brahmin Marathi family to Usha and Purushottam Sathe in Chiplun, Maharashtra. She received her MA and LLB from Indore University (now Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya) after marrying Jayant Mahajan of Indore. Sumitra Mahajan's hobbies include reading, music, drama and cinema as well as an enthusiasm for singing. She has acknowledged the 18th century queen Ahilyabai Holkar as the inspirational figure throughout her life and has written a book on Ahilyabai Holkar's life journey 'Matoshree' which was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017.

Political career

Sumitra Mahajan started her political career as a corporator in the Indore Municipal Corporation in 1982. She was later elected as Deputy Mayor of Indore Municipal Corporation in 1984. She ran for the first time and won the Lok Sabha elections in 1989, against former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Prakash Chandra Sethi. She is popularly known as Tai, among people of her constituency.

Speaker of the Lok Sabha

On 6 June 2014, Mahajan was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha. She had earlier worked as a member of the 'Panel of Chairmen' in the Lok Sabha. She took the step of suspending 25 Congress MPs for five days (August 2015) from House for indiscipline in the House.

  • Key Patron at NLC Bharat
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