Sumitra Kulkarni (née Gandhi) is an Indian politician. Born in the

family of Mahatma Gandhi The Gandhi family is the family of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), commonly known as ''Mahatma Gandhi''; Mahatma meaning "high souled" or "venerable" in Sanskrit; the particular term 'Mahatma' was accorded Mo ...

, she studied MA and served as an

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

officer before joining politics. She served as a member of

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

from 1972 to 1978.

Biography

Kulkarni was born on 5 October 1929 at

Sabarmati Ashram Sabarmati Ashram is located in the Sabarmati suburb of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, adjoining the Ashram Road, on the banks of the River Sabarmati, from the town hall. This was one of the many residences of Mahatma Gandhi who lived at Sabarmati (Gujar ...

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

. She is a daughter of

Ramdas Gandhi Ramdas Mohandas Gandhi (4 May 1897 – 14 April 1969) was the third son of Mahatma Gandhi. He was a freedom activist in his own right. Biography Ramdas was born in the Colony of Natal, the third son of Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi. He ha ...

and granddaughter of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

. She served many years in ashram of Gandhi and was raised in

Sevagram Sevagram (meaning "A town for/of service") is a town in the state of Maharashtra, India. It was the place of Mahatma Gandhi's ashram and his residence from 1936 to his death in 1948. After Sabarmati, Sevagram Ashram holds immense importance d ...

near

Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The administrative headquarter of Wardha district is situated here. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows on the northern, western ...

. She has studied MA in History with specialisation in Foreign Policy and Diplomacy of Modern World from

Women's College Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male st ...

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...

. She has also studied LLB. She was an

(IAS) officer and was a collector in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

. She was persuaded by

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

to join the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

(INC). She resigned from IAS in 1972 and was elected as a INC member of

representing

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. She became disillusioned with INC during the Emergency thus she switched to the

Congress for Democracy The Congress for Democracy (CFD) was an Indian political party founded in 1977 by Jagjivan Ram. It was formed after Jagjivan Ram, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, and Nandini Satpathy left the Indian National Congress of Indira Gandhi and denounced ...

(CFD) on 2 March 1977. The CFD was later merged with the

Janata Party The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jaiprakash Bandhu. The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political partie ...

. She served as a member of Rajya Sabha from 10 April 1972 to 9 April 1978. She served as a member of the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (2000-2002). She had conducted anti-liquor campaign during the elections.

Personal life

Kulkarni married Gajanan Raghunath Kulkarni, dean of

IIM Ahmedabad The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad or IIM-A), is a business school, located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It is one of the Indian Institutes of Management and was accorded the status of an Institute of National Impor ...

. They have twin sons Shriram and Shrikrishna and a daughter,

Sonali Sonali is a popular Indian female given name. Persons * Sonali Bendre (born 1975), Indian actress * Shonali Bose (born 1965), Indian filmmaker * Shonali Bhowmik (born 20th century), Indian-American musician * Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee, Indian ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kulkarni, Sumitra Family of Mahatma Gandhi 1929 births People from Ahmedabad People from Karnataka 20th-century Indian women politicians Rajya Sabha members from Gujarat Indian National Congress politicians from Gujarat Janata Party politicians Congress for Democracy politicians Banaras Hindu University alumni Indian temperance activists Living people