Sonali Guha (born 27 December 1968) is an Indian politician from the state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. Guha is a

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 ...

politician. She was elected to the

West Bengal Legislative Assembly The West Bengal Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian states and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is located in the B. B. D. Bagh area of Kolkata, the capital of the state. Members of the Legislative as ...

from Satgachhia for four terms to the

and was the first female deputy

speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly The Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly is the title given to the presiding officer (chair) of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. The Speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results ...

as a member of the

Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (English: All India Grassroots Congress; AITC), colloquially the Trinamool Congress ( TMC) is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in West Bengal. The party is led by Mamata Banerjee, the cur ...

. Later she joined

after she was denied a ticket to contest the 2021 assembly elections. Now she is again interested to join TMC after the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Elections 2021 results.

Early life and education

Sonali Guha was born 27 December 1968 in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. She attended the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

and graduated in science from Charuchandra College.

Political career

Guha took to politics at an early age and was a close aide to

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 20 ...

. Between 2001 and 2003, on instructions from Mamata Banerjee, Guha intervened in the defense of squatters that were being evicted from the banks of Tolly's Nullah and Gobindapur railway colony. Guha was first elected to the

in 2001 from the

Satgachhia (Vidhan Sabha constituency) Satgachhia Assembly constituency is a Legislative Assembly constituency of South 24 Parganas district in the Indian State of West Bengal. Overview As per order of the Delimitation Commission in respect of the Delimitation of constituencies in ...

on an All India Trinamool Congress ticket. She defeated Gokul Bairagi of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

by about 6,000 votes. Her victory was significant as the seat had been held for five terms by Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, since 1977, but Basu decided not to contest the 2001 election for health reasons. In the 2006 assembly election Guha defeated Kabita Kayal of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) by about 6,000 votes. She was elected as the first woman deputy speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Guha was re-elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly in 2011. This time her opponent was Barun Naskar from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), whom she defeated by about 18,000 votes. In the 2016 assembly election, Guha won the Satgachhia (Vidhan Sabha constituency) seat for the fourth time, defeating Paramita Ghosh of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) by about a margin of 17,500 votes.

Personal life

Guha is married to Partha Bose and the couple have one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guha, Sonali Living people West Bengal MLAs 2001–2006 West Bengal MLAs 2006–2011 West Bengal MLAs 2011–2016 West Bengal MLAs 2016–2021 Trinamool Congress politicians from West Bengal 1968 births Charuchandra College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from West Bengal