Rajendra Kumari Bajpai
Rajendra Kumari Bajpai (8 February 1925 – 17 July 1999) was an Indian National Congress politician, a former Union Minister of India and former Lieutenant Governor of Pondicherry. She was elected three times to the Lok Sabha from Sitapur constituency in 1980, 1984 and 1989 and was a close confidant of former Prime Minister Early life and family She was born on 8 February 1925 in Laluchak, Bhagalpur district, Bihar to Pt. S.K. Mishra, she was the granddaughter of Ravi Shankar Shukla and niece of Shyama Charan Shukla. After her schooling she received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Allahabad University. She married D.N. Bajpai, a teacher by profession in 1947, who also took part in the Quit India Movement of 1942. The couple had a son Ashok Bajpai and a daughter Mrs. Manisha Dwivedi. Career She was member of the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh from 1962 to 77; remained the head of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) and a close confidant of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Eventually she held various ministries in the Cabinet of Uttar Pradesh (1970–77). Thereafter, she was elected to the Lok Sabha three consecutive times from Sitapur in 1980, 1984 and 1989. She became