Sarojini Ballah, The Right Honorable Lady Jugnauth (commonly known as ''Lady Sarojini Jugnauth''), a former

Spouse of the Prime Minister of Mauritius The spouse of the prime minister of Mauritius is the title of the wife or husband of the Prime Minister of Mauritius. To date it has been held by only 5 women, the current holder is Kobita Jugnauth. Public role The role of the Prime Ministerial ...

is the widow of

Sir Anerood Jugnauth Sir Anerood Jugnauth, Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean, GCSK, Padma Vibhushan, PV, (29 March 1930 – 3 June 2021) was a Mauritian politician and barrister who served both as President of Mauritius, President and Prime Minister of ...

. She previously held the position from 1982 to 1995 and from 2000 to 2003, most recent from 2014 to 2017. She was the

First Lady of Mauritius First Lady (french: Première dame) or First Gentleman of Mauritius is a term used by the media for the spouse of the sitting president of Mauritius. Role of the first lady/gentlemen The spouse does not have any official duties or salary, but t ...

from 2003 to 2012 when her husband served as President of the country. She is a primary school teacher by profession and is the mother of Shalini Malhotra and

Pravind Jugnauth Pravind Kumar Jugnauth (born 25 December 1961) is a Mauritian politician serving as the prime minister of Mauritius since January 2017. Jugnauth has been the leader of the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) party since April 2003. He has held a n ...

. She took an active role in social activities being the patron of various charitable organizations and also participates in various political activities in support of her family and party. Over the years, she generally retained a high approval rate as wife of the prime minister. She became a subject of controversy in 1992 when the bank of Mauritius issued a Rs. 20 note with her effigy on it. The inauguration of the note was done by her husband and other members of the government. While members of the opposition fiercely attacked the prime minister and his government of conducting dictatorial politics. It was later discovered to be a birthday gift of Sir Anerood to her. Due to various pressure from other political parties and unpopularity of then government, the note was subsequently removed from circulation while prime minister Jugnauth apologized in parliament stating that it was a mistake for which he was terribly sorry. The government collapsed in 1995 after losing the general elections.

Personal life

Sarojini Ballah married

on 18 December 1956. They have two children, Shalini (now Mrs. Malhotra) and Pravind who is the current Prime Minister. She is the grandmother of five grandchildren that is Anusha, Divya, Sonika, Sonali and Sara.

References

Living people Mauritian people of Indian descent Spouses of prime ministers of Mauritius First Ladies and Gentlemen of Mauritius People from Plaines Wilhems District 1938 births {{mauritius-bio-stub