politician
As one of India’s youngest Rajya Sabha MPs at the age of thirty-two, and a Minister of State in Rajiv Gandhi’s Cabinet at forty-two, Margaret Alva is among India’s longest serving Parliamentarians. She has held several important positions in the Government of India and the Congress party, before retiring as the Governor of three states in 2014. Over the years, she has been witness to several events that have played an important part in the political narrative of our times—the Emergency, Indira Gandhi’s Chikmagalur election, Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, P.V. Narasimha Rao’s liberalization of the Indian economy, Sonia Gandhi’s entry into politics and Manmohan Singh’s tumultuous two terms.
Margaret Alva now lives in Bangalore with her husband.
