<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published June 2, 2009
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>'Untouchable' set to make history in India
Meira Kumar is expected to become 1st woman speaker
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(NEW DELHI) India's newly elected Parliament began its inaugural session yesterday with lawmakers set to elect the country's first ever woman speaker, who is also an 'untouchable' Dalit.
Veteran and first-time MPs, including 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.
Mr 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.
'I sincerely hope we will make a new beginning,' he told reporters. 'I hope that Parliament will be allowed to run smoothly - dialogue, discussion and reason will prevail in our proceedings and we will give all due respect to the opposition,' he said.
The highlight of the session will be the expected election of 64-year-old Meira Kumar as India's first woman speaker.
The decision to nominate Ms Kumar was taken at a weekend meeting of the ruling Congress party.
Ms Kumar, who is a member of the low caste Dalit - or untouchable - community, was a career diplomat who entered politics in 1985. In the latest ballot, she was elected from the impoverished eastern state of Bihar.
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Naming Ms Kumar as speaker works for the Congress on several levels, according to political analyst and author Rasheed Kidwai. 'It helps the party position itself as pro-women. And it also projects the Congress as a party concerned about the welfare of the downtrodden,' Mr Kidwai said. - AFP
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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>'Untouchable' set to make history in India
Meira Kumar is expected to become 1st woman speaker
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</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>(NEW DELHI) India's newly elected Parliament began its inaugural session yesterday with lawmakers set to elect the country's first ever woman speaker, who is also an 'untouchable' Dalit.
Veteran and first-time MPs, including 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.
Mr 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.
'I sincerely hope we will make a new beginning,' he told reporters. 'I hope that Parliament will be allowed to run smoothly - dialogue, discussion and reason will prevail in our proceedings and we will give all due respect to the opposition,' he said.
The highlight of the session will be the expected election of 64-year-old Meira Kumar as India's first woman speaker.
The decision to nominate Ms Kumar was taken at a weekend meeting of the ruling Congress party.
Ms Kumar, who is a member of the low caste Dalit - or untouchable - community, was a career diplomat who entered politics in 1985. In the latest ballot, she was elected from the impoverished eastern state of Bihar.
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