Union Cabinet Minister from Assam
Sarbananda Sonowal
(
Assamese
: ????????? ??????? / IPA: x??ban?nd? x?n?wal; born 31 October 1962)
[3]
is an Indian politician of Bharatiya Janata Party from
Assam
[4]
who is serving as the current
Cabinet Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
and
Cabinet Minister of AYUSH
,
Government of India and the member of the Rajya Sabha representing Assam since 2021
[5]
and also a member of the
Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs
since 2021.
[6]
He is the 14th
Chief Minister of Assam
from 2016 to 2021 and the former of
Assam Legislative Assembly
from Majuli from 2016 until he resigned in 2021 and from Moran constituency from 2001 to 2004. Sonowal earlier served as the Assam state unit President of
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
from 2012 to 2014 and again from 2015 to 2016.
[7]
He has also served as the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of India, from 2014 to 2016 and the Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and Skill Development from 2014 to 2014 and the member of the Lok Sabha from Lakhimpur from 2014 to 2016 and from Dibrugarh from 2004 to 2009. He was also the member of the
Asom Gana Parishad
from 2001 to 2011.
[8]
[9]
[10]
Early life and education
[
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]
Sarbananda Sonowal was born on 31 October 1962 to an
Assamese
Hindu
Sonowal
family in Muluk Gaon located in the
Dibrugarh district
of Assam to Jibeswar Sonowal
(father)
and Dineswari Sonowal
(mother)
.
Sonowal did his schooling at Don Bosco High School, Dibrugarh.
[11]
He completed his
B.A.(Hons)
in
English
from
Dibrugarh Hanumanbax Surajmall Kanoi College
under
Dibrugarh University
and his
LLB
form
Dibrugarh University
and
B.C.J
from
Gauhati University
.
[3]
Political career
[
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]
Sarbananda Sonowal was the President of Assam's oldest student body, the
All Assam Students Union
(AASU) from 1992 to 1999. After that, he became a member of the
Asom Gana Parishad
(AGP). In 2001, he was elected as the MLA from
Moran
constituency of
Assam
. In 2004, he became a Lok Sabha member representing the
Dibrugarh
constituency.
[12]
He lost Lok Sabha election from Dibrugarh in 2009. He joined
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) in 2011.
[12]
He was appointed president of BJP's Assam Unit in 2012 and is also a member of the party's National Executive. In the 2014 general election for Lok Sabha he was appointed to head Assam State's Lok Sabha Elections by BJP, and in the same year he was also elected as
Member of Parliament
, 16th Lok Sabha, from
Lakhimpur
Constituency.
[12]
He was then appointed as Union Minister of State-Independent Charge, of the Government of India under the Modi Government at the center.
He was selected as the CM candidate of BJP for the
2016 Assam Assembly Election
. On 19 May 2016, Sarbananda Sonowal won the Assembly Election from
Majuli
Constituency, and he became Chief Minister of Assam, the first CM of the state from
Bharatiya Janata Party
. In 2021 he was re-elected to Assam Vidhan Sabha from Majuli. He resigned as Chief Minister and proposed Himanta Biswa Sarma's name as his successor. He became
Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
and
Minister of AYUSH
in
Second Modi ministry
when cabinet overhaul happened.
[13]
Joining BJP
[
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]
Sarbananda Sonowal resigned from all executive posts within AGP and left the party, due to dissatisfaction with and amongst the senior leadership of the party who were trying to forge an alliance with a party that was against the scrapping of the controversial IMDT Act.
[14]
On 8 February 2011, Sonowal joined
BJP
in the presence of the then BJP National President
Nitin Gadkari
and senior leaders like
Varun Gandhi
,
Vijay Goel
,
Bijoya Chakravarty
and state BJP president
Ranjit Dutta
. He was immediately appointed as a member of the BJP National Executive and later on the State Spokesperson of the BJP unit, prior to his current assignment to head the state as the new president. On 28 January 2016, BJP Parliamentary Board announced Sarbananda Sonowal as BJP Chief Ministerial candidate of Assam.
[15]
Personal life
[
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]
He is not married.
[16]
Positions held
[
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]
- 2001-2004: Elected as MLA, Assam Legislative Assembly from
Moran Constituency
- 2004: Elected as Member of Parliament, 14th Lok Sabha from
Dibrugarh Constituency
- 2005: Appointed Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Home Affairs
- 2006: Appointed Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Commerce & Industry
- 2011: Appointed National Executive Member of
Bharatiya Janata Party
- 2011: Appointed State Spokesperson and General Secretary for
Assam
Bharatiya Janata Party
- 2012: Appointed State President for
Assam
Bharatiya Janata Party
[12]
- 2014: Appointed to head State's
16th Lok Sabha
Elections
Assam
Bharatiya Janata Party
- 2014: Elected as Member of Parliament,
16th Lok Sabha
from
Lakhimpur Constituency
- 2014: Appointed Union Minister of State-Independent Charge,
Republic of India
[17]
- 2016: Declared as BJP Chief minister candidate for 2016 Assam assembly elections.
[18]
- 2016-2021:
Member of Assam Legislative Assembly
from
Majuli Constituency
- 2016?2021: 14th
Chief Minister of Assam
- 2021?present:
Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
and
Minister of AYUSH
in the
Government of India
- 2021?present: Member of the
Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs
in the
Government of India
- 2021?present: Member of Parliament,
Rajya Sabha
Social and cultural activities
[
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]
Arts & culture
[
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]
The annual
Guwahati International Film Festival
was started during his tenure. It is organised by the State Government-owned
Jyoti Chitraban
(Film Studio) Society in association with the
Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Regional Government Film and Television Institute
. The first edition was held in Oct 2018. The second, in Oct-Nov 2019. The 3rd edition has been postponed owing to the present
COVID-19 pandemic
to early 2021.
Role removing the IMDT Act
[
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]
Faced with the problem of massive migration from
Bangladesh
into
Assam
, the government tried to put up legislation in place to detect and deport foreign nationals. Eventually, the
Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act, 1983
(IMDT Act) came into being following the
Assam Accord
signed between the
Government of India
and the
All Assam Students Union
(AASU) to end the decade-long anti-foreigner agitation.
The
IMDT Act
is an instrument passed by
Indian Parliament
to detect illegal immigrants (from Bangladesh) and expel them from Assam. While the IMDT Act operates only in Assam, the
Foreigners Act (1946)
applies to the rest of the country. It is applicable to those Bangladeshi nationals who settled in Assam on or after 25 March 1971. Under the Act, the onus of proving the citizenship of a suspected illegal alien rests on the complainant, often the police. On the other hand, according to the provisions of the Foreigners Act, the onus lies with the person suspected to be an alien.
Sonowal took the issue of Bangladeshi infiltration to the
Supreme Court
. By its judgement dated 12 July 2005, the court struck down the
Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act, 1983
, as unconstitutional and termed Bangladeshi infiltration an "external aggression" and directed that "the Bangladesh nationals who have illegally crossed the border and have trespassed into Assam or are living in other parts of the country have no legal right of any kind to remain in India and they are liable to be deported."
[19]
See also
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References
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External links
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Ministers of State (Independent Charge)
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