Rajendra Kumari Bajpai (8 February 1925 – 17 July 1999) was an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

politician, a former Union Minister of India and former

Lieutenant Governor of Pondicherry Puducherry (formerly known as "Pondicherry") is a Union Territory of India. Governance and administration of the territory fall directly under federal authority. Chief Commissioner (1954 1963) After the ''de facto'' transfer of French sett ...

. She was elected three times to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

from

Sitapur Sitapur is a city and a municipal board in Sitapur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located 90 kilometres north of state capital, Lucknow. The traditional origin for the name is said to be by the King Vikramāditya from Lord ...

constituency in 1980, 1984 and 1989 and was a close confidant of former Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

Early life and family

She was born on 8 February 1925 in Laluchak,

Bhagalpur district Bhagalpur district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar States and territories of India, state, India, and Bhagalpur town is the administrative headquarters of this district. Majority of Bhagalpur district lies in South Bihar. Geography ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

to Pt. S.K. Mishra, she was the granddaughter of

Ravi Shankar Shukla Ravishankar Shukla (2 August 1877 — 31 December 1956) was a leader of the Indian National Congress, Indian independence movement activist, the Premier of the Central Provinces and Berar from 27 April 1946 to 25 January 1950, first Chief Minis ...

and niece of

Shyama Charan Shukla Shyama Charan Shukla (27 February 1925 – 14 February 2007) was an Indian National Congress politician and thrice Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. Personal life Shyama Charan Shukla was born on 27 February 1925 in Raipur. His father Ravi ...

. After her schooling she received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from

Allahabad University , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

. She married D.N. Bajpai, a teacher by profession in 1947, who also took part in the Quit India Movement of 1942. The couple had a son Ashok Bajpai and a daughter Mrs. Manisha Dwivedi.

Career

She was member of the

Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known a ...

from 1962 to 77; remained the head of

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) is the Pradesh Congress Committee (state wing) of the Indian National Congress (INC) serving in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Congress Working Committee Appointed Priyanka Gandhi as General Secretary of UP ( ...

(UPCC) and a close confidant of former Prime Minister

. Eventually she held various ministries in the Cabinet of Uttar Pradesh (1970–77). Thereafter, she was elected to the Lok Sabha three consecutive times from Sitapur in 1980, 1984 and 1989. She became Union Minister of State with independent charge of Ministry of Social Welfare (1984–86), Minister of State with independent charge of

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

(1986–87) and Minister of State with independent charge of Welfare (1987–89) with

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...

as Prime Minister. She was appointed lieutenant governor of Pondicherry from 2 May 1995 to 22 April 1998. She died on 17 July 1999 at

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

after a prolonged kidney-related illness. She was survived by her husband and children. At the time of her death, her son Ashok Bajpai was president of the District Congress committee, while Dr Ranjana Bajpai, her daughter-in-law was president of Uttar Pradesh Mahila Congress.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bajpai, Rajendra Kumari Indian National Congress politicians from Uttar Pradesh Women state governors of India 1925 births 1999 deaths People from Sitapur district Politicians from Allahabad Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1962–1967 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1967–1969 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1969–1974 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1974–1977 India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1984–1989 India MPs 1989–1991 Union ministers of state of India Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Lieutenant Governors of Puducherry University of Allahabad alumni State cabinet ministers of Uttar Pradesh People from Bhagalpur district Women in Uttar Pradesh politics Women in Puducherry politics 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians Women state cabinet ministers of India