Meira meets Sonia, set to become LS Speaker

New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) Meira Kumar, who took charge as
Water Resources Minister in UPA government's second term just
two days back, was Sunday set to become the new Lok Sabha
Speaker, the first woman to occupy the post in India'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.

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 Monday.

Meira refused to talk to reporters after 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 United Progressive Alliance
on May 22. PTI PKU
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