Meira Kumar becomes the first Indian woman Speaker

Meira Kumar becomes the first Indian woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha as her name was cleared by the Congress core group. Meira will also be the first Dalit leader to become the Speaker. Meira Kumar on Sunday night resigned as Union Water Resources Minister. The 64-year-old daughter of former deputy Prime Minister Jagjivan Ram met party Chief Sonia Gandhi at her residence on Sunday.

In the evening Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary called on the five-time MP. Senior most Lok Sabha member Manikrao Gavit of Congress has been appointed as Protem Speaker by President Pratibha Patil on Monday. A nine-term Member of Parliament, 75-year-old Gavit will perform the duties of the Speaker till the election of a new Speaker on 3rd June. He was administered oath by the President at a brief function at Rashtrapati Bhavan which was attended among others by Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal.