Sumitra Mahajan ( ''née'' Sathe; born: 12 April 1943) is an

Indian politician Politics of India works within the framework of the country's Constitution. India is a parliamentary democratic secular republic in which the president of India is the head of state & first citizen of India and the prime minister of India is ...

who was the

Speaker of Lok Sabha The speaker of the Lok Sabha ( IAST: ) is the presiding officer and the highest official of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. The speaker is elected generally in the first meeting of the Lok Sabha following general e ...

, the lower house of the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...

from 2014 to 2019. She belongs to

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

. She represented the

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

constituency of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

from 1989 to 2019 as the longest serving Woman

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

, She also served for as a

Union Minister of State The Union Council of Ministers Article 58 of the ''Constitution of India'' is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which is responsible for being the senior decision making body of the executive branch. It is chaired by t ...

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 Meira Kumar (born 31 March 1945) is an Indian politician and former diplomat. A member of the Indian National Congress, she was the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment from 2004 to 2009, the Minister of Water Resources for a brief per ...

to be elected as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. She was awarded India's third highest civilian award the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

in 2021.

Early life and education

Sumitra Mahajan was born in a Chitpavan

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

family to Usha and Purushottam Sathe in

Chiplun Chiplun ( ͡ʃipɭuːɳ is a city in Ratnagiri district in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is the financial and commercial Hub of Ratnagiri, and the headquarters of Chiplun taluka. It is about 320 km south of Mumbai in the Konkan ...

, Maharashtra. She received her MA and

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from Indore University (now

Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya Devi Ahilya University (informally abbreviated DAVV), formerly Indore University, is a State University. It was named after 'Ahilya Bai Holkar', the 18th century Queen and ruler of Indore, which was part of the Hindu Maratha Empire. Its jurisdi ...

) after marrying Jayant Mahajan of

. Sumitra Mahajan's hobbies include reading, music, drama and cinema as well as an enthusiasm for singing. She has acknowledged the 18th century social reformer

Ahilyabai Holkar Ahilya Bai Holkar (31 May 1725 – 13 August 1795) was the hereditary noble queen of the Maratha Empire, in early-modern India. She established Maheshwar (in Madhya Pradesh) as the seat of Holkar Dynasty. After the demise of her husband Kha ...

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 Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

in 1982. She was later elected as Deputy Mayor of

in 1984. She ran for the first time and won the Lok Sabha elections in 1989, against former

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

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 Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the

16th Lok Sabha Members of the 16th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2014 Indian general election. The elections were conducted in 9 phases from 7 April 2014 to 12 May 2014 by the Election Commission of India. The results of the election were declared on 16 M ...

. She had earlier worked as a member of the 'Panel of Chairmen' in the Lok Sabha. She took the step of suspending 25

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

MPs for five days (August 2015) from House for indiscipline in the House.

Controversy

Former chairperson of Indore-based Maharashtra Brahmin Cooperative Bank Anil Kumar Dhadwaiwale alleged Sumitra Mahajan and her son Milind Mahajan's roles were crucial in the scams that took place in the bank between 1997 and 2003. Sumitra Mahajan was a minister in the Central Government during this period. Milind Mahajan was one of the directors of the bank when the alleged scam took place. In 2005, an FIR in the scam was lodged at Central Kotwali Police Station, Indore against 16 persons including Milind Mahajan. But it was removed after the investigation. Many directors including, Sumitra Mahajan's Private Secretary's husband also obtained the loan. But did not pay.

References

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahajan, Sumitra 1943 births India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 2004–2009 India MPs 2009–2014 India MPs 2014–2019 Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Madhya Pradesh Living people Lok Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh Politicians from Indore Madhya Pradesh municipal councillors People from Ratnagiri district Speakers of the Lok Sabha Union ministers of state of India Women in Madhya Pradesh politics 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians Women union ministers of state of India Women legislative speakers