Abu Taher Mondal ( bn, আবু তাহের মণ্ডল) is an Indian

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

politician, social worker and retired civil engineer. He is a four-time MLA of the Phulbari constituency 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

Mondal 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 plains 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 ...

. His father was Samsul Huda Mondal. Mondal graduated in 1991 with a

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Ba ...

degree. He owns land in Shyamding and Phulbari.

Career

Despite being an independent candidate during the

1998 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election The 1998 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election was held on 16 February 1998. Results The UDP was formed in 1997 through a merger of the Hill People's Union (HPU), some members of the Hill State People's Democratic Party (HDP) and the Pub ...

, Mondal successfully beat Manirul Islam Sarkar for the Phulbari constituency. Mondal joined the

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is one of the nine national parties in India. The party generally supports Indian nationalism and Gandhian secularism. It is the largest opposition party in Maharashtra and is also a significant party ...

for 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 ...

but was unsuccessful against Sarkar this time. During 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 ...

, Mondal became independent once more and beat Sarkar. He managed to preserve his seat at the

2013 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election of 2013 was held on 23 February 2013 to elect the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from each of the 60 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) in the state of Meghalaya in India. Background The 8th ...

, this time 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. His two-term streak was broken at the

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 ...

by S. G. Esmatur Mominin. In March 2013, Mondal was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. He was the first "non-Indigenous" legislator to hold the office.

References

Meghalaya MLAs 1998–2003 Meghalaya MLAs 2008–2013 Meghalaya MLAs 2013–2018 21st-century Bengalis People from West Garo Hills district 21st-century Indian Muslims Indian Sunni Muslims Speakers of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly 1967 births Living people National People's Party (India) politicians Nationalist Congress Party politicians from Meghalaya Indian National Congress politicians from Meghalaya Meghalaya MLAs 2023–2028 {{Meghalaya-politician-stub