Kariya Munda is an Indian politician and the former Deputy Speaker of the 15th Lok Sabha. He has been a former minister in the Government of India, in the Governments led by the Janata Party in 1977 and by Bhartiya Janata Party, from 1999 onwards. He was first inducted in the Morarji Desai government in 1977 and given the portfolio of Steel Ministry, in the capacity as the Minister of State. He was a cabinet minister in the ministry headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, including the famous stint in the 13 days' government in 1999 and afterwards. He has now been among the senior leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party, rising from the days of the 'Jansangh' and have witnessed many ups and downs in the Indian politics, particularly since the days of emergency. Munda was born in Khunti district, near the State capital of Ranchi of Jharkhand state in India. Khunti is among the pre-dominantly tribal belt in central-eastern part of India. Incidentally, the village 'Ulihatu' near Khunti, is also the birthplace of the legendary, great tribal leader called Birsa Munda. Munda passed his M.A. examination from Ranchi University, in Anthropology, a subject which also predominantly studies about the tribals in India and elsewhere. Munda was 1st elected to the 6th Lok Sabha in 1977 from Khunti constituency in Bihar state. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2009 from the same constituency of Khunti. In between, he was also elected and served as MLA to the Legislative Assemblies of Bihar and later, Jharkhand. Needless to say, being a Representative of the people so repetitively, he has been equally popular among all sections of the society. In the 2009-2014 Lok Sabha, Mrs. Meira Kumar and Sri Kariya Munda were unanimously elected to their posts. Hailing Mr. Munda's election, the Prime MinisterManmohan Singh hoped that the spirit of accommodation seen in the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, would continue through the duration of the 15th Lok Sabha. Pranab Mukherjee, then the Leader of the House , was glad that a 32-year-old unbroken tradition of having the Deputy Speaker from the Opposition, which had begun in 1977, the very 1st year when Sri Munda entered the Lok Sabha, had been carried forward, with his unanimous election. Advani, the BJP stalwart, echoed similar sentiments. Munda has been a 7-time MP from Khunti constituency of Jharkhand State.
