NEW DELHI, June 2: The Lok Sabha, Indian Parliament’s lower house, will make history on Wednesday when Meira Kumar, a Dalit, becomes its first woman Speaker.

Mrs Kumar, a five-term Lok Sabha MP, today became the consensus candidate of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the prestigious assignment.

A diplomat-turned-politician, she is the daughter of the late Jagjivan Ram (1908-86), a veteran dalit leader from Bihar who had been an MP for four decades, was a minister in the governments of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, and Morarji Desai’s deputy prime minister (1977-79).

Dalits, or scheduled castes (SC), figure at the bottom of the Hindu caste ladder They account for 16.8 per cent of the 1,166-million-strong population, or about 196 million. Mrs Kumar’s elevation to the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post is seen as a gesture of empowerment of Dalits as well as women.

More importantly, by projecting the gentle and soft-spoken Mrs Kumar as the ruling Congress Party’s Dalit Face, the party is clearly hoping to fend of a challenge for Dalit votes from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms Mayawati, the abrasive aspirant for the prime ministership who is dubbed by the media here as the Dalit Czarina.

Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee led a UPA delegation to submit Kumar's nomination papers to Lok Sabha Secretary General PDT Achary for the election to the Speaker's post, scheduled to be held tomorrow.

Kumar, age 64, is expected to be elected unopposed as Mukherjee submitted 13 sets of nomination papers, including a set signed by Leader of the Opposition LK Advani and seconded by BJP leader Mrs Sushma Swaraj.

"We have filed 13 sets of nomination papers. The first set was signed by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and I have seconded it," Mukherjee told reporters at Parliament House.

"It is a historic moment for women. It is a very overwhelming moment for me," Mrs Kumar said soon after her nomination papers were filed.

Born in Bihar’s capital Patna in 1945, she studied in Indraprastha College and Miranda House in Delhi University. She joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1973, and had worked in Indian missions in Spain, Britain and Mauritius before quitting the service in 1985 to join politics.

She joined the government as a deputy minister in the PV Narasimha Rao ministry (1991-96) and was made a cabinet rank minister when the Congress-led UPA came to power in 2004.

The decision to nominate her for the Speaker's post came days after she took charge of the Water Resources Ministry in Dr Manmohan Singh’s cabinet. She has since resigned as minister.

Armed with a law degree, Kumar became a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association in 1980. She has also won medals in rifle shooting and has keen interest in equestrian events too. Married to Manjul Kumar, a Supreme Court lawyer, she has one son and two daughters.

Meanwhile, in a matching gesture, the opposition BJP today named Karia Munda, its tribal leader from Jharkhand state, as its candidate for the post of the Lok Sabha’s Deputy Speaker. As per the convention, the main opposition party gets this job.

Munda, age 72, has been an MP for six terms, and was a minister in the cabinets of Morarji Desai and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Asked if Munda is being fielded to garner tribal support for the party, BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley said: "It is true that Munda belongs to the scheduled tribe (ST) community. But he also has a vast legislative experience and this decision was made considering his seniority."

The scheduled castes account for nearly 96 million, or 8.2 per cent of the population.

Munda said his nomination will send a "good message" to the tribals because their community has got this rare honour.

Welcoming Mrs Kumar’s nomination, he said: "It is good that a woman is all set to become Speaker this time."