Meira Kumar

Patna, June 2: She might be a five-time Lok Sabha member and a Union cabinet minister, but in Bihar she is “Babuji ki beti”.

Jagjivan Ram, Meira Kumar’s father, was revered as Babuji by Sasaram voters, a seat that she now represents.

The MP, set to become the first woman and second Bihar leader to get elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker, has disappointed her people by resigning as the water resources development minister and taking on the role of the Speaker.

Farmers of Sasaram celebrated the day Meira became the minister hoping that the Durgawati reservoir project, the foundation stone of which was laid by former deputy Prime Minister Jagjivan Ram in 1975, would finally see the light of the day.

“The project will remain a dream like it has been for 34 years. She will not be able to push the project as a Speaker,” said Alok Chamaria, a farmer.

Local Congress leaders, too, seem indifferent to Meira’s success. “She has hardly ever attended any party activity in Sasaram or in Patna. Now, she will finally have a permanent excuse to stay away,” said senior Congress leader, rather wryly.

Daughter Meira is quite a contrast to the legendary father, a first-generation Dalit leader, who wrote to every Sasaram voter in Bhojpuri. Sheonarayan Yadav of Sasaram is one among many who still has “Babuji ki chitthi” (Babuji’s letter) with him.

Jagjivan Ram represented Sasaram in the Lok Sabha from 1957 till his death in 1982. He hailed from Chandawa in old Sahabad which is now Sasaram. The leader never faced defeat from this seat.

Born in Patna on March 31, 1945, Meira stayed with her father in Delhi and studied English at Indrapastha University and Miranda House. She is also a law graduate, who joined the IFS in 1973, served in the Indian embassy at Madrid and London. She quit her job to join politics in 1985 and was elected as the MP from Bijnaur (UP). Meira also represented Delhi’s Karobagh seat twice.

Congress’s decision to make Meira the Speaker has deprived Bihar of the representation in the Union ministry. Now, the only person eligible is Congress MP and Lok Sabha debutante Asrarul Haque. “Logic states that Manmohan Singh can not leave a state as large as Bihar un-represented. Haque will most likely join the ministry,” Umakant Singh.

Meira Kumar and Suresh Ram were siblings born to Indirani Devi and Jagjivan Ram. Suresh Ram is no more. She tied the knot with a non-Dalit, Manjul Kumar (advocate) and the couple have a daughter and son.

The leader faced hostile voters in Sasaram in 2008 who questioned her about her “perennial” absence. She won nonetheless by 40,000 votes, a ghost of a win against her 2004 victory by over 2.48 lakh votes. “Her identity as Babuji ki beti saved her,” said K.K. Singh, a former village chief.