Bijoya Chakravarty (born 7 October 1939), is an Indian politician from the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

. She was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

in 2021.

Background

Bijoya began her political career in the

Janata Party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...

. She subsequently joined the regional

Asom Gana Parishad Asom Gana Parishad (translation: ''Assam People's Council'', AGP) is a state political party in Assam, India. The AGP was formed after the historic Assam Accord of 1985 and formally launched at the Golaghat Convention held from 13–14 Octobe ...

and served in the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

from 1986 to 1992. Following her stint in the Rajya Sabha, she joined the

Bhartiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

. She represented the

Gauhati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

in the

13th Lok Sabha The 13th Lok Sabha (10 October 1999 – 6 February 2004) is the thirteenth session of the Lok Sabha (House of the People, or lower house in the Parliament of India). It was convened after 1999 Indian general election held during September–Oc ...

. She won this seat for the BJP for the first time ever in 1999. Under the premiership of

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...

, she served as the Union Minister of State for Water Resources. In 2004, the BJP decided to field singer

Bhupen Hazarika Bhupen Hazarika () (8 September 1926 – 5 November 2011) was an Indian playback singer, lyricist, musician, poet, actor, filmmaker and politician from Assam, widely known as ''Sudha Kontho'' (meaning cuckoo, literally "nectar-throated"). His ...

in her place, causing widespread protests from BJP party workers. Hazarika lost the elections. The BJP understood its mistake and re-nominated Bijoya in the 2009 Lok Sabha election from the Gauhati seat. As a result, she again won the seat in 2009 and 2014 representing the BJP.

Personal life

Chakravarty was born to B.K. Thakur and Mukhyada Thakur on 7 October 1939 in Baligaon village of Jorhat district in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. A post graduate with

Masters of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in English language, she received her education from

Guwahati University Gauhati University, also known as GU, is a collegiate public state university located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established on 26 January 1948 under the provisions of an Act enacted by the Assam Legislative Assembly. It is the oldest ...

and

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...

. She married Jiten Chakravarty on 1 June 1965, with whom she has a son and a daughter. Her daughter Suman Haripriya was elected to the

Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Assam. It is housed in Guwahati, the capital city of Assam, geographically situated in present Western Assam region. The Legislative Assembly comprises 126 Me ...

election in 2016 from Hajo Vidhan Sabha constituency. Her son, Ranajit Chakravarty, died in May 2017 at the age of 49.

Positions held

*1977–1979 District Secretary, Janata Party, Mangaldoi (Assam) *1986–1992

Member of parliament, Rajya Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of the Indian states to the one of the two houses of the Parliament of India (Rajya Sabha). Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by the electoral college of the elected ...

*1999–2004

Member of parliament, Lok Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of a legislative constituency in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct Elections in I ...

representing

(Assam) *1999–2004 Union Minister of State for Water Resources *2007–present National Vice-President,

References

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chakravarty, Bijoya 1939 births Living people People from Jorhat district Women in Assam politics India MPs 2009–2014 Lok Sabha members from Assam India MPs 1999–2004 Rajya Sabha members from Assam India MPs 2014–2019 Janata Party politicians Asom Gana Parishad politicians Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Assam 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians Women union ministers of state of India Union ministers of state of India Recipients of the Padma Shri in public affairs Women members of the Rajya Sabha Women members of the Lok Sabha