Kiren Rijiju (born 19 November 1971) is an Indian politician from

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...

who serves as the Cabinet Minister of Law and Justice in the Government of India.

Early life

Rijiju was born on 19 November 1971 at Nakhu near Nafra in

West Kameng district West Kameng (pronounced ) is a district of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India. It accounts for 8.86% of the total area of the state. The name is derived from the Kameng river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, that flows through the district ...

in India. He is the son of Rinchin Kharu and Chirai Rijiju. His father was the first pro-tem speaker of Arunachal Pradesh who gave oath to the Members of the First State Legislative Assembly.

Education

Rijiju did his graduation degree (B.A.) from

Hansraj College Hansraj College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, in Delhi, India. The departments of Hansraj college includes science, liberal arts and commerce. History The was founded on 26 July 1948 in memory of the prominent Indian ...

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

. Further, in 1998, he did his graduate degree in law (LL.B) from

Campus Law Centre A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related Institution, institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes library, libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining h ...

Faculty of Law, University of Delhi The Faculty of Law, University of Delhi is the law department of the University of Delhi. It has the unique distinction of producing the largest number of sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India. It is situated in the north campus of the ...

Political career

Kiren Rijiju is considered the face of

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 ...

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

. He served as a Member of Khadi and Village Industries Commission from 2000 to 2005 at the very young age of 29. Rijiju was appointed as India's Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports in 2019. He occasionally writes articles on security and socio-economic issues. In the 2004 general election, he was elected as a member of the 14th Lok Sabha, representing the constituency of Arunachal West in the Indian Parliament, which is the fourth largest Parliamentary constituency (in terms of Area) in India. He was one of the most articulate and outspoken Parliamentarians in the 14th Lok Sabha. Rijiju entered the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

for the second time in 2014 from the Arunachal (West) constituency of

in India. During 2004-09, Rijiju was placed among the top 5 opposition MPs reviewed by their peers in the treasury bench based on high benchmark in debates, discussions, and decorum and was placed among stalwarts like

L.K. Advani Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is an Indian politician who served as the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. Advani is one of the co-founders and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is a longtime memb ...

. He was also chosen as the best young MP by many national news agencies and magazines. In the 2009 general election, Rijiju was defeated by a very thin margin of 1314 votes by the Congress candidate under a very controversial circumstances which witnessed massive violence amidst allegation of widespread polling booth capturing by Indian National Congress Party. In the 2014 general election, Rijiju was again elected as a Member of Parliament in the

16th Lok Sabha Members of the 16th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2014 Indian general election. The elections were conducted in 9 phases from 7 April 2014 to 12 May 2014 by the Election Commission of India. The results of the election were declared on 16 M ...

, representing the Arunachal West constituency. Rijiju defeated

Takam Sanjoy Takam Sanjoy (born 15 May 1967) is an Indian politician and Member of Parliament belonging to the Indian National Congress. In the 2009 general election he was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India from th ...

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 ...

by a margin of 43,738 votes. Immediately he found a place in

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 ...

's first best of 45 Council of Minister's list as Minister of State for Home. In 2017 made a controversial statement and said that "Rohingyas are illegal immigrants and stand to be deported". He also stated that "India has absorbed maximum number of refugees in the world so nobody should give India any lessons on how to deal with refugees". Kiren Rijiju again got elected in 2019 by highest ever record margin of votes and became Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports and Minister of State for

Ministry of Minority Affairs The Ministry of Minority Affairs is the ministry in the Government of India which was carved out of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and created on 29 January 2006. It is the apex body for the central government's regulatory and ...

. In July 2021, he became Cabinet Minister of Law and Justice in

Second Modi ministry The Second Ministry of Narendra Modi is the Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi that was formed after the 2019 general election which was held in seven phases in 2019. The results of the election were announce ...

when cabinet overhaul happened.

Personal life

His wife is Joram Rina Rijiju; they were married in 2004. She is a graduate from

Lady Shri Ram College Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) is a constituent women's college, affiliated with the University of Delhi, and has a legacy in women's education. History Established in 1956 in New Delhi by the late Lala Shri Ram in memory of his wife ...

for Women, New Delhi and is a gold medalist from Arunachal University. She is an Associate Professor teaching history at Dera Natung Government College,

Itanagar Itanagar () is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The seat of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, the seat of government of Arunachal Pradesh, and the seat of Gauhati High Court permanent bench at Naharla ...

in Arunachal Pradesh.

References

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External links

Website of Kiren Rijiju
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Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rijiju, Kiren 1971 births Living people Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Arunachal Pradesh People from West Kameng district Indian Buddhists Faculty of Law, University of Delhi alumni Lok Sabha members from Arunachal Pradesh India MPs 2004–2009 India MPs 2014–2019 Union ministers of state of India Ministry of Home Affairs (India) Narendra Modi ministry India MPs 2019–present National Democratic Alliance candidates in the 2019 Indian general election