Sarojini Ballah, Lady Jugnauth (commonly known as Lady Sarojini Jugnauth), a former

Spouse of the Prime Minister of Mauritius A spouse is a significant other in a marriage. A female spouse is called a wife while a male spouse is called a husband. Married The legal status of a spouse, and the specific rights and obligations associated with that status, vary significan ...

is the widow of

Sir Anerood Jugnauth Sir Anerood Jugnauth, GCSK, (29 March 1930 – 3 June 2021) was a Mauritian statesman, politician and barrister who served both as President and Prime Minister of Mauritius. He was Member of Parliament for Piton & Riviere Du Rempart. The cen ...

. She previously held the position from 1982 to 1995 and from 2000 to 2003, most recently from 2014 to 2017. She was the

First Lady of Mauritius First Lady () or First Gentleman of Mauritius is a term used by the media for the spouse of the sitting president of Mauritius. Role of the first lady/gentlemen The spouse does not have any official duties or salary, but tend to participate in ...

from 2003 to 2012 when her husband served as President of the country. She is a primary school teacher by profession and is the mother of Shalini Malhotra and

Pravind Jugnauth Pravind Kumar Jugnauth (born 25 December 1961) is a Mauritian politician and former Prime Minister, succeeding, Aneerood Jugnauth, his father, who retired as leader of the majority in 2017. Following the victory of his, Alliance Morisien, coali ...

. She took an active role in social activities being the patron of various charitable organizations and also participates in various political activities in support of her family and party. Over the years, she generally retained a high approval rate as wife of the prime minister. She became a subject of controversy in 1992 when the bank of Mauritius issued a Rs. 20 note with her effigy on it. The inauguration of the note was done by her husband and other members of the government. Due to various pressure from other political parties and unpopularity of then government, the note was subsequently removed from circulation while prime minister Jugnauth apologized in parliament stating that it was a mistake for which he was terribly sorry. The government collapsed in 1995 after losing the general elections.

Personal life

Sarojini Ballah married

on 18 December 1956. They have two children, Shalini (Mrs Malhotra) and Pravind who was the Prime Minister of Mauritius between 2019 up to 10 November 2024. She is the grandmother of five grandchildren that is Anusha, Divya, Sonika, Sonali and Sara.

References

Living people Mauritian people of Indian descent Spouses of prime ministers of Mauritius First ladies and gentlemen of Mauritius People from Plaines Wilhems District 1938 births Wives of knights {{mauritius-bio-stub