Margaret Alva

Margaret Alva

Margaret Alva (birth name: Margaret Nazareth ; Hindi : मार्गरेट अल्वा ; born April 14, 1942 in Mangalore , Mysore state , now Karnataka ) is a former Indian politician of the Indian National Congress (INC), who was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1974 to 1998 . In the meantime, she was Minister of State from 1984 to 1989, 1991 and again between 1993 and 1996. She was also a member of the Lok Sabha from 1999 to 2004 .

Most recently, she was governor of Uttarakhand from 2009 to 2014 , also governor of Rajasthan between 2012 and 2014 , governor of Gujarat in 2014 and governor of Goa in 2014 .

Life

Degree, lawyer and member of the Rajya Sabha

After attending school, Margaret Nazareth, who comes from a Catholic family, first completed an undergraduate degree at Mount Carmel College, which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) as the best in her class in 1961 . At the same time, she served as General Secretary of the All India Catholic University Federation in 1961 . She finished her postgraduate studies in law at Government Law College in Bangalore with a Bachelor of Laws (BL). During her studies there she was secretary of the local student association from 1963 to 1964. She then took up a position as a lawyer .

On May 24, 1964 she married Niranjan Alva, a son of the well-known politician couple Joachim Alva and Violet Alva . From this marriage three sons and one daughter were born.

In the early 1970s Margaret Alva began her political career for the Indian National Congress (INC) and was initially chairman of the INC women's association in the state of Karnataka between 1972 and 1973 .

On April 3, 1974 she became a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament , for the first time and was a member of this after confirmation on April 3, 1980, on April 3, 1986 and on April 3, 1992 to April 2, 1998. During this time she was from 1975 to 1976 chairman of the INC faction in the Rajya Sabha and a member of the Committee for Information and Broadcasting. At the same time she acted from 1975 to 1977 as secretary of the All-India Committee of the Congress Party and between 1978 and 1980 as general secretary of the INC in the state of Karnataka. At the same time she was president of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) in the Union Territory of Delhi from 1975 to 1978 and from 1975 to 1982 president of the local foundation for deaf women. From 1982 to 1984 she was also the chairwoman of the welfare committee for visiting students at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

Vice President of the Rajya Sabha and Minister of State

During the second legislative period of her membership of the Rajya Sabha Margaret Alva was from 1983 to 1985 Vice President of the House of Lords and at the same time from 1983 to 1988 chairwoman of the All India Mahila Congress , the women's organization of the Congress party.

In December 1984 Margaret Alva was appointed Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in his government and held this office until 1985. At the same time, she was a member of the Committee on Public Enterprises from 1984 to 1985. As part of a cabinet reshuffle, she served as Minister of State for Youth, Sport, Women and Child Development in the Ministry for Human Resource Development between 1985 and November 1989.

During her third legislative term in the Rajya Sabha, Margaret Alva, who was awarded an honorary doctorate in literary studies by the University of Mysore in 1989 , chaired its table template committee from 1990 to 1991. Subsequently, she was Minister of State for Personnel, Public Complaints and Pensions in the Cabinet of Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao for some time in 1991 . After she was during her third term from 1993 to 1995 deputy parliamentary secretary (Deputy Chief Whip ) of the Group of INC. In addition, from 1993 to 1996 she was again Minister of State for Personnel, Public Complaints and Pensions in the Rao Cabinet and, at the same time, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs for the second time.

After leaving the government, Margaret Alva was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee from 1996 to 1997 and a member of the Committee on Public Accounts between 1996 and 1998.

Member of the Lok Sabha and electoral defeat

In the elections in September and October 1999 Margaret Alva was elected as a candidate for the Congress Party in the Karnataka constituency of Kanara as a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament. This constituency was represented by her father-in-law Joachim Alva between 1951 and 1967. In this election she was able to prevail with 47.8 percent against the previous constituency owner Anantkumar Hegde of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). During the 13th legislative period she was a member of the Lok Sabha Presidium until 2004 and was also a member of the Committee for Transport and Tourism between 1999 and 2000, as well as a member of the so-called House Committee and also a member of the Committee for General Affairs.

Margaret Alva, who was founding chairwoman of Karuna , a non-governmental organization that defends the interests of women and children, then chaired the Committee on Women's Empowerment between 2000 and 2001.

In the elections in April and May 2004 , however, she suffered an electoral defeat and lost the Kanara constituency again to her predecessor Anantkumar Hegde of the BJP, who received 51.9 percent of the vote. She ran again in the April and May 2009 elections in this constituency, but was again subject to Hedge, who received 44.6 percent of the vote, while they received 41.6 percent of the vote.

Governor of several states

On August 6, 2009, Margaret Alva succeeded Banwari Lal Joshi as governor of the state of Uttarakhand and held this office until she was replaced by Aziz Qureshi on May 15, 2012.

Shortly before, she became Governor of Rajasthan on May 12, 2012 as the successor to Shivraj Patil and remained in this post until August 7, 2014. The following day, she was replaced by Ram Naik . At the same time, she acted as the successor to Kamla Beniwal from July 7, 2014 until her replacement by Om Prakash Kohli on July 15, 2014 as governor of Gujarat . In addition, she became governor of Goa on July 12, 2014 as the successor to Bharat Vir Wanchoo and also held this office until August 7, 2014. In this position, too, she was replaced by Om Prakash Kohli.

Web links

• Entry on the homepage of the Rajya Sabha
• Entry on the homepage of the Rajya Sabha
• Entry in rulers.org

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Governors of Uttarakhand (rulers.org)
2. ↑ Governors of Rajasthan (rulers.org)
3. ↑ Governors of Gujarat (rulers.org)
4. ↑ Governors of Goa (rulers.org)