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Friday, October 29, 2010
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit Nehru August 18, 1900 to December 1, 1990 was an Indian diplomat and politician, sister of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. In 1921 she married Ranjit Sitaram Pandit, who died on 14 January 1944. She was the first Indian woman to hold a ministerial post. In 1946 she was elected to the Constituent Assembly of the United Provinces.
She served as Governor of Maharashtra 1962 to 1964, when she was elected to the Indian Lok Sabha from Phulpur, her brother, former constituency. She held office from 1964 to 1968. Pandit was a strong critic of her niece, Indira Gandhi after Gandhi became prime minister in 1966, and she withdrew from active politics after their relationship soured.
In 1979 she was appointed the Indian representative in the UN Human Rights Commission, after which she withdrew from public life. Her writings include The Evolution of India 1958 and extent of Happiness: A Personal Memoir 1979 the daughter Nayantara Sahgal, who later settled in her mother's house in Dehradun, is a famous writer.
