Md. Abdus Saleh ( bn, মুহাম্মদ আব্দুস সালেহ) is an Indian politician and social worker from Meghalaya. He was the former MLA of Rajabala and former three-time MLA of Mahendraganj in the

Meghalaya Legislative Assembly The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Meghalaya. Constituted as a directly elected body in 1972, it has 60 members, filled through direct elections held every five years. Like other Indian stat ...

Early life and education

Saleh was born into a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

family in the plain region of the

West Garo Hills district West Garo Hills is an administrative district in Garo Hills of the state of Meghalaya in India. Tura town is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district occupies an area of 3714 km². In 2011 its population was 643,291. As ...

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and J ...

to parents Abdul Gofur and Sahara Begum. Late Abdul Gofur was also a social worker and political leader of Mahendraganj. Abdul Gafur, who was a close associate of Purno A. Sangma, passed away due to cardiac arrest while at a meeting with Purno A. Sangma in 1983. Saleh graduated from St. Edmund's College (affiliated with

North-Eastern Hill University North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) is a Central University established on 19 July 1973 by an Act of the Indian Parliament. The university is in the suburb of Shillong, the state capital of Meghalaya, India. The university has two campuses: S ...

) in 1989 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree. In 1999, Abdus Saleh married Sultana Atifa, with whom he has two daughters.

Career

Saleh began his political career in the 1997 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly by-election where he won as an Independent candidate. In 1998 he contested and won as an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

candidate for the Mahendraganj constituency. He was unsuccessful as an independent candidate during the

2003 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election The 2003 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election was held on 26 February 2003. The north-east Indian state's seventh Legislative Assembly election saw major changes with 28 sitting members and two former Chief Ministers losing their seats. The ...

. He rejoined the Congress party for the

2008 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election of 2008 took place in a single phase on 3 March 2008 to elect the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from each of the 60 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) in Meghalaya, India. Counting of votes ha ...

and was successful once again. After reservation of the Mahendraganj Constituency, Saleh joined the fray for the Rajabala constituency in 2013, but was unsuccessful in both the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

and

2018 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election was held on 27 February 2018 to elect 59 of 60 members to the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, with the results declared on 3 March. The scheduled election in Williamnagar constituency was delayed to a ...

s, in both of which he stood as an Independent candidate. The sudden demise of Dr. Azad Zaman necessitated a by-election for the Rajabala seat, which was held at the end of October 2021. Abdus Saleh, competing as the National People's Party candidate emerged successful. In a historical feat, Saleh has become the only person in Meghalaya to have won two separate by-elections, from two separate constituencies, almost 25 years apart. Saleh has held important portfolios of the Meghalaya Government. He was the Minister of State in charge of Finance, Agriculture and Health under E.K. Mawlong's leadership in 2001. He was the Minister of State in charge of Power and PHC in 2002 under the leadership of Dr. F.W. Khonglam. Under Mukul Sangma's leadership, Saleh was the Parliamentary Secretary of Home, Transport and Taxation from 2009 to 2013. He has also served as the Chairman of Meghalaya Government Construction Corporation from 1999, and the co-chairman of Meghalaya Industrial Development Corporation from 2014. He was also Chairman of Minority in Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee, and the Chairman of the Meghalaya State Waqf Board. Currently, Abdus Saleh is serving as the Chairman of the Meghalaya State Planning Board under the leadership of Conrad K. Sangma.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saleh, Abdus 21st-century Bengalis Meghalaya MLAs 1993–1998 Meghalaya MLAs 1998–2003 Meghalaya MLAs 2008–2013 Meghalaya MLAs 2018–2023 People from West Garo Hills district North-Eastern Hill University alumni 1968 births Living people National People's Party (India) politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Meghalaya