Born on April 12, 1943, in a Chitpavan Brahmin family, Sumitra Mahajan became the Speaker of Lok Sabha from 2014 to 2019.
Her unanimous election underlined the changed equations in the polity, with the BJP-led NDA being in a commanding position in and outside Parliament. That she is only the second woman speaker of the Lok Sabha also tells us the long way women have to go to claim their rightful place in the polity.
Mahajan was the eldest and seniormost among woman Members of Parliament in the 16th Lok Sabha.
She served as a Union Minister of State from 1999 to 2004, holding the portfolios of Human Resource Development, Communications and Information Technology and Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Before that, she had been a member of the Indore Municipal Corporation and its deputy mayor.
She also held the position of Chairperson of Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment (2004-2009) and Standing Committee on Rural Development (2009-2014).
She was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the country's third-highest civilian award by President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhawan in November last year, for her contributions.
