Meira meets Sonia,set to become LS Speaker

Meira Kumar was picked by the Congress high command for the position of Lok Sabha Speaker.

Meira Kumar,who took charge as Water Resources Minister in UPA government’s second term just two days back,was today set to become the new Lok Sabha Speaker,the first woman to occupy the post in the country’s parliamentary history.

Though a formal announcement by the Congress was yet to be made on its choice for the post of Speakership in the 15th Lok Sabha,enough indications emerged during the day that the 64-year-old daughter of former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram was on course to occupy the high office.

Meira met party chief Sonia Gandhi at her 10,Janpath residence early in the day and in the evening Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary called on the five-time MP,who quit the Indian Foreign Service(IFS) to join politics.

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Meira,whose name was cleared by the Congress core group last night,will also be the first Dalit leader to become the Speaker.

Elections for the post of Speakership,if required,will be held on June 3,two days after the new Lok Sabha opens for for its first session tomorrow.

Meira refused to talk to reporters afer her meeting with Gandhi amid reports it was an occasion to thank the Congress chief for choosing her for the post.

Any comments by Meira,who assumed office as the new Water Resources Minister on Friday,will be made only after her name is officially announced for Speakership,her aides said. She was inducted into the Union Cabinet in the first round of government formation by UPA on May 22.

Sources in the LJP (RV) said the names of the remaining 15 candidates would also be announced very soon.

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