India

New Congress-led parliament session opens

Article published on the 2009-06-01 Latest update 2009-06-01 16:47 TU

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speaks to the media on the opening day of the parliament in New Delhi June 1, 2009. Singh last week named 59 new ministers, including 14 of the cabinet rank, as he brought key allies into the government after his resounding general election victory
REUTERS/B Mathur

For the first time in its history, the Indian parliament has elected a speaker who is a woman and a member of the low caste Dalit community. She is 64 year-old Meira Kumar.  78 ministers of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet, were sworn in by an interim speaker at the start of the brief session that ends on June 9.

Kumar is the daughter of former deputy prime minister, Jagjivan Ram, She first entered politcis in 1985.  On Friday, she took office as the Water Resources Minister but resigned from the post today on news of her nomination to be the 15th Lok Sabha Speaker. 

The decision to nominate Kumar was taken at a weekend meeting of the ruling Congress party.  The final election for the post is on 3 June but is somewhat of a formality in Kumar's case, given the support of more than 320 MPs in the 543-seat legislature.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose Congress party won a resounding victory in the April-May national polls, said he hoped this parliament would function properly, without the almost daily disruptions, protests and adjournments of the past.