Himanta Biswa Sarma (born 1 February 1969) is an

Indian politician Politics of India works within the framework of the country's Constitution. India is a parliamentary democratic secular republic in which the president of India is the head of state & first citizen of India and the prime minister of India is ...

serving as the 15th and

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

Chief Minister of Assam The chief minister of Assam, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Assam. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following ...

. A former member of the

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 Em ...

political party. Sarma joined 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 ...

on 23 August 2015. He is a five time Member of the Assam Legislative Assembly from

Jalukbari Jalukbari is a locality in Guwahati, Assam, India, located between National Highway 31 and National Highway 37. Education Gauhati University, Assam Engineering College, Government Ayurvedic College, Jalukbari Sanskrit School are some of the e ...

, having been elected in 2001. Sarma studied at

Cotton College Cotton College was a Roman Catholic boarding school in Cotton, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. It was also known as ''Saint Wilfrid's College''. The school buildings were centred on Cotton Hall, a country house used by religious communities fro ...

and later obtained a bachelor of laws from Government Law College in

Guwahati 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 ...

. He later became a solicitor and practised law at

Gauhati High Court The Gauhati High Court was promulgated by governor general of India on 1 March 1948 after the ''Government of India Act 1935'' was passed. Establishing the High Court of Assam with effect from 5 April 1948, for the then Province of Assam. It ...

before his entry to politics. Sarma was the Congress candidate for

in 2001 and he defeated AGP leader

Bhrigu Phukan Bhrigu Phukan was a leader of Asom Gana Parishad and a cabinet minister in Government of Assam. He was one of the three signatories to the Assam Accord. Phukan was born on 25 April 1956. He was elected for three consecutive terms from the pres ...

. He was made a minister of state in the First Tarun Gogoi cabinet twice. He was inducted into the Second Tarun Gogoi cabinet and was upgraded to a cabinet minister. He served in the third cabinet before he resigned from congress. Sarma cited mismanagement by

Rahul Gandhi Rahul Gandhi ( ; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician and a member of the Indian Parliament, representing the constituency of Wayanad, Kerala in the 17th Lok Sabha. A member of the Indian National Congress, he served as the president o ...

as the reason for his defection from the Indian National Congress party. He led the BJP's successful state election campaign in 2016 and was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister on 24 May 2016. The

BJP 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 Mo ...

appointed him the convener (leader) of the

North-East Democratic Alliance The North-East Democratic Alliance or NEDA is a political coalition that was formed on May 24, 2016, by Bharatiya Janata Party. The motive of the new political front was to protect the interest of the people of the region as well as uniting non-Con ...

(NEDA), a regional sub-group of the federal National Democratic Alliance (NDA), aimed at increasing the party's political strength in North-East India. He was sworn in as Chief Minister of Assam on 10 May 2021, succeeding

Sarbananda Sonowal Sarbananda Sonowal ( Assamese: সৰ্বানন্দ সোণোৱাল / IPA: xɔɹbanɔndɔ xʊnʊwal; born 31 October 1962) is an Indian politician from Assam who is the current Cabinet Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and ...

. He is often called 'Mama' (meaning maternal uncle) by voters in Assam.

Early life and education

Sarma was born on 1 February 1969 in

Jorhat Jorhat ( ) is one of the important cities and a growing urban centre in the state of Assam in India. Etymology Jorhat ("jor" means twin and "hat" means market) means two hats or mandis - "Masorhaat" and "Sowkihat" which existed on the opposite ...

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 ...

, the family, including six

sibling A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separat ...

s, later shifted to Ulubari, Gandhibasti in

. He belongs to an Assamese family which traces its origins to Latima in

Nalbari district Nalbari (Pron: nɔ:lˈbɑ:ri) is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters is located at Nalbari. History Nalbari was declared a sub division of undivided Kamrup District in 1967. The district was cr ...

. Sarma married Riniki Bhuyan Sarma in 2001, with whom he has a son, Nandil Biswa Sarma, who attended

The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mod ...

, and a daughter, Sukanya Sarma, who attended

Mayo College Girls School Mayo College Girls' School is an all-girl boarding school in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India, founded in 1987. Students of the school are referred to as Mayoites. The school is ranked the best boarding school for girls in India. In 2011 the former pre ...

. ''(This paragraph was originally referenced to this source, a lot of the content was sourced to this)'' Sarma was educated at Kamrup Academy School, Guwahati in 1985 and joined

Cotton College, Guwahati Cotton University (formerly known as ''Cotton College'') is a public state university located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established in 2017 by the provisions of an Act from the Assam Legislative Assembly which merged Cotton College Sta ...

(now known as Cotton University) for his undergraduate education. He was elected the General Secretary of Cotton College Students Union, serving from 1991 to 1992. Sarma is the seventh chief minister of Assam from Cotton University. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1990 and Master of Arts in 1992, both in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

, from the university. Thereafter, Sarma obtained a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from Government Law College, Guwahati, and became a solicitor in 1995. He practised law at the

from 1996 to 2001. In 2006, he completed a

Doctorate of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in political science from

Gauhati University Gauhati University, also known as GU, is a Collegiate university, 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 Assem ...

, defending his dissertation shortly before he was elected to public office.

Political career

Indian National Congress

Sarma 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 ...

from

for the first time in 2001 when he defeated

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 ...

leader Bhrigu Kumar Phukan. He was re-elected in 2006, then in 2011 for a third consecutive term with a 78,000 vote margin. Sarma held important portfolios (both state and cabinet) as Minister of State for Agriculture, Planning and Development, Finance, Health, Education, and

Assam Accord The Assam Accord was a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement. It was signed in the presence of the then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in New Delhi on 15 Au ...

Implementation from 2002 to 2014. He was made Cabinet Minister for Health in 2006, and in 2011 he was also entrusted with the additional charge of Education. During his tenure, three medical colleges in

Barpeta Barpeta (Pron: bə(r)ˈpeɪtə / bə(r)ˈpi:tə ) is a town in Barpeta district of the state of Assam in India and is district headquarters. The city is located north west of Guwahati and is one of the major cities in Western Assam. It is als ...

and

Tezpur Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 100, ...

were built. He also initiated work for five more medical colleges in

Diphu Diphu (Pron:ˈdɪfu:) is the headquarter of Karbi Anglong district in the state of Assam in India. This small town is a popular tourist hill station for people of nearby cities. Etymology The word ''Diphu'' came from Dimasa language, meaning ' ...

Nagaon Nagaon (previously Nowgong; Assamese নগাঁও), is a town and a municipal board in Nagaon district in the Indian state of Assam. It is situated east of Guwahati. History This division was organised on the both banks of Kalang river ...

Dhubri Dhubri (Pron: ˈdhubri) is an old town and headquarter of Dhubri district in Indian state of Assam. It is an old town on the bank of the Brahmaputra river, with historical significance. In 1883, the town was first constituted as a Municipal Bo ...

North Lakhimpur North Lakhimpur ( ) is a city and a municipal board in Lakhimpur district in the Indian state of Assam, about northeast of Guwahati. It is the district headquarters of Lakhimpur district. North Lakhimpur is also the name of the subdivision of ...

and

Kokrajhar Kokrajhar () is a town in the Bodoland Territorial Region, an autonomous territory in Assam, one of the North Eastern states of India. Kokrajhar town is located along the bank of the river Gaurang. The North East Indian Railways divides the ci ...

, which are now in various startup stages.

Bharatiya Janata Party

After political disagreements with the former chief minister

Tarun Gogoi Tarun Gogoi (11 October 1936 – 23 November 2020) was an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Assam from 2001 to 2016. He was a member of the Indian National Congress and led the party to a record three consecutive electoral vi ...

, Sarma resigned from all positions on 21 July 2014. He was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the

constituency until his resignation from the Assembly on 15 September 2015. Sarma joined

on 23 August 2015 at the residence of Amit Shah at

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

. He was appointed as the party's Convener of the Election Management Committee for the upcoming Assembly Elections in the state. In May 2016, Sarma won the Jalukbari constituency for the fourth consecutive term and was sworn in as Cabinet Minister on 24 May in Sonowal ministry, in the first BJP Government in

North East India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

. He was allotted portfolios like Finance, Health & Family Welfare, Education, Planning & Development, Tourism, Pension & Public Grievances.

Sports administrator

On 23 April 2017, Sarma was unanimously elected as President of

Badminton Association of India Badminton Association of India (BAI) is the governing body of badminton in India. BAI is an association registered under the societies act. It was formed in 1934, and has been holding national-level tournaments in India since 1936. BAI has 28 ...

. Sarma has been the president of the Assam Badminton Association. He also became the president of the

Assam Cricket Association Assam Cricket Association (ACA) is the governing body of the Cricket activities in the Assam state of India and the Assam cricket team. It is affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The headquarters of ACA is at the Assam Crick ...

in June 2016 when his party man Pradip Buragohain became the secretary. Sarma was also the longest-serving vice president of the association serving from 2002 to 2016. On 25 March 2022, Sarma was re-elected as the president of

for a second term of four years from 2022 to 2026 in general body meeting in Guwahati.

Chief Minister of Assam

Appointment

On 8 May 2021, Sarma along with Chief Minister

were summoned to

, for discussions on the formation of a new government. Sarma and Sonowal held a series of meetings lasting more than 4 hours with BJP President

J P Nadda Jagat Prakash Nadda (born 2 December 1960) is an Indian lawyer and politician serving as the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 20 January 2020. He was the BJP's working president from June 2019 to January 2020. Nadda is the ...

and

Home Minister The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Home Minist ...

Amit Shah. On 9 May Sonowal tendered his resignation to

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Jagadish Mukhi, ahead of a meeting the same day to decide the next Chief Minister. Sarma's name was proposed by the outgoing Sonowal, BJP state president

Ranjeet Kumar Dass Ranjeet Kumar Dass is a politician from the Indian state of Assam. He is a member of the Assam Legislative Assembly from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was elected as Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly in 2016, when Sarbananda Sono ...

and newly elected MLA Nandita Garlosa. As no other name was presented to be chief minister, Sarma was unanimously elected as the BJP legislature leader. On 10 May 2021, Sarma was sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam by Governor Jagadish Mukhi, succeeding Sonowal. He was congratulated by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

on his appointment.

Tenure

Sarma urged

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

to adopt decent family planning in June 2021. He also stressed the need for a new law against illegal cattle smuggling in Assam. Mission Basundhara was launched under Sarma in 2021; it aims at helping residents with issues related to land and property. Assam government under his leadership has announced decision of converting 740

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

s funded by state to normal "majoritarian" schools. His tenure experienced a rise in

extrajudicial killings An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whether ...

, which he has ''openly supported''. He has demolished many

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

s in the state under his tenure, alleging association with terrorist groups.

Boundary dispute with Mizoram

On 26 July 2021

Assam Police The Assam Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Assam in India. A regular police force was initiated in Assam by the British after the Treaty of Yandaboo to maintain the law and order. It functions under the Department of Home Af ...

and

Mizoram Police The Mizoram Police Force is the law enforcing agency of the state of Mizoram, India. Administration The administrative control of Mizoram Police vests with the Home Minister of Mizoram who holds the portfolio of Home Minister. The supervisio ...

(

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...

is an adjacent state to Assam on its southern boundary) fired upon each other supposedly part of the decades-old Assam-Mizoram border dispute. Assam lost six

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

personnel and a civilian in the firefight, while one youth from

suffered a gunshot wound. Both sides charged each other with opening fire first. Reports from news media indicate that on 24 July 2021, Himanta Biswa Sarma and

Zoramthanga Zoramthanga (born 13 July 1944) is an Indian politician who is the Chief Minister of Mizoram. He is the president of Mizo National Front (MNF) party. He had served as the Chief Minister of Mizoram from December 1998 to December 2008, for two ...

had a one-to-one talk about the

boundary dispute A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources s ...

where both agreed to settle the matter amicably through talks. Before this could take place, and only two days after the two Chief Ministers held their talks, this incident took place. Days after ''skirmish'' which left dozens of others injured, the Assam government on 29 July 2021 issued a

travel advisory A travel warning, travel alert, or travel advisory is an official warning statement issued by government agencies to provide information about the relative safety of travelling to or visiting one or more specific foreign countries or destinations. ...

, asking people of the state ''not'' to travel to

- the first such travel advisory ever, by a state in the independent India. Himanta retracted from this advisory a day later. Further, Assam's Home and Political Department said on 29 July that the police should carry out an intensive drive against

drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

s and check all vehicles entering into

from

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarma, Himanta Biswa 1969 births Living people Chief Ministers of Assam Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party Indian National Congress politicians from Assam Members of the Assam Legislative Assembly Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Assam Politicians from Guwahati Gauhati University alumni Cotton College, Guwahati alumni People from Assam People from Guwahati People from Kamrup district State cabinet ministers of Assam Assam MLAs 2016–2021 Assam MLAs 2006–2011 Assam MLAs 2021–2026 Badminton in India