Shri Subodh Kant Sahay (born 11 June 1951) is an Indian politician. He served as three term MP (Lok sabha) of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He represented the

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

constituency of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

and is a 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 ...

(INC) political party. He had been holding important portfolios. He was the Cabinet Minister for Tourism until 28 OCT 2012. He is referred as one of the closest to former Prime Minister Dr.

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

and former UPA Chairperson Smt.

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi ('' née'' Maino; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest serving president of the Indian National Congress, a social democratic political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independ ...

. According to sources,

knew him for his truth and hard work. He was the Minister for

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

V.P. Singh Vishwanath Pratap Singh (25 June 1931 – 27 November 2008), shortened to V. P. Singh, was an Indian politician who was the 7th Prime Minister of India from 1989 to 1990 and the 41st Raja Bahadur of Manda. He is India's only prime minister to ...

government. Sahay was asked to resign in 2012 from his ministerial post by

in light of favouring his brother in allocation of coal mine blocks in the infamous Coal Scam.

Early life

Shri Subodh Kant Sahay was born in a religious

Chitraguptvanshi Kayastha Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha, also referred as ''North Indian Kayastha'', is a subgroup of Hindus of the Kayastha community that are mainly concentrated in the Hindi Belt of North India. In Hindu texts and traditions, they are described to have desc ...

family in

Latehar Latehar is a town which is a headquarter of Latehar district of Jharkhand state, it is known for its natural environment, forest, forest products and mineral deposits. Latehar remained a part of Palamau District as a sub division since 1924. ...

) to Shri. Brijdeo Sahay and Smt. Indrani Devi. He did his B.Sc., LL.B. from A N College, Patna and

Ranchi University Ranchi University is a public state university in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. It was established in 1960 by an Act of the Bihar legislature. Ranchi University offers degrees in undergraduate, post-graduate, M.Phil. and doctorate programs. History ...

.He involved in social and welfare activities since student days and organised several National and State Level programmes for mobilisation of youth, working for the upliftment of the downtrodden, deprived and minority communities.

Political career

Subodh Kant Sahay was actively involved in the Non-Aligned Student and Youth Organisation (NASYO). He participated in Jai Prakash Movement of 70s and was groomed under the tutelage of Janta party stalwarts like Chandrashekhar Singh, Satyendra Narain Sinha & Thakur Prasad. Upon behest of Bihar Janta party President Sinha he was placed as a candidate from Hatia, a seat he won and made his electoral debut in assembly. He was Member of Preparatory Committee, World Youth Festival; General Secretary, (i) Yuva Janata for three years; (ii) Janata Party for two years; (iii) Janata Dal for 6 months; Working President Yuva Janta for two years; President Yuva Janata for three years. He start his political career from Hatia, Ranchi. He had been re-elected as the MP from Ranchi again in the elections in May 2009. Congress had managed to win only one seat from Ranchi out of 14 seats and only 3 seats from Bihar out of 40 seats. Sahay served as Minister Of State (Independent Charge) for Food Processing Industries in the

First Manmohan Singh Cabinet The First Ministry of Manmohan Singh was the first Union Council of Ministers of India under the Prime Ministership of Dr. Manmohan Singh. It was formed after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April - 10 May 2004, to ...

from 2004 to 2009. On the second Congress victory in the 2009 elections which saw

continue as

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 ...

, Sahay was elevated to

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

rank holding the same Food Processing Industries portfolio. During the ministry shuffle in January 2011 he was given

Minister for

Ministry of Tourism (India) The Ministry of Tourism, a branch of the Government of India, is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules, regulations and laws relating to the development and promotion of tourism in India. It facilitates the Indian departm ...

Personal life

Subodh Kant Sahay is married to Rekha Sahay, who is a famous theatre personality. They have a daughter named Yashaswini Sahay.

Position held

* 1978-1989 Speaker,

Bihar Legislative Assembly The Bihar Legislative Assembly, also known as the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of the Bihar Legislature where the first elections were held in 1952. The total strength of membership in the Assembly was 331, including one nominated m ...

(three terms) * President, Public Accounts Committee, Bihar Legislative Assembly (four years) * President, Committee of Privileges, Bihar Legislative Assembly (two years) * Vice President, Library Committee, Bihar Legislative Assembly (four years) * 1989 Elected to 9th Lok Sabha * President, Committee on Petitions, Bihar Legislative Assembly (three years) * April 1990 - November 1990 Union Minister, Home Affairs, Govt. of India * November 1990 - June 1991 Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Information & Broadcasting & Home Affairs, Govt. of India * 2004 Re-elected to 14th Lok Sabha (2nd term) * 2004 Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Food & Food Processing Industries * 2006 Cabinet Minister, Food Processing * 2011 Cabinet Minister,

* 2011 to 28 Oct 2012: Union Minister for Tourism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahay, Subodh Kant 1951 births Indian National Congress politicians Janata Dal politicians Living people People from Latehar district India MPs 2004–2009 Union ministers of state of India with independent charge V. P. Singh administration India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 2009–2014 Lok Sabha members from Jharkhand Tourism ministers of India Coal block allocation scam Politicians from Ranchi