Tanka Bahadur Rai (born 14 October 1950) is an Indian National Congress politician from the state of

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 ...

. He was a Member of 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 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 ...

for Barchalla. He was Deputy Speaker and then Speaker of

. He was also a minister in the Tarun Gogoi cabinet.

Early life and education

Tanka Bahadur Rai was born on 14 October 1950 to the late Pancha Bahadur Rai and the late Dhansiri Rai in Singri. He Completed HSLC in 1967,Pre University(1968),

B.A Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(Distinction) from

Darrang College Darrang College, sometimes referred to at times as the Nalanda of the North Bank, is a college in Tezpur, Assam, India. It was started in July 1945 with 8 teachers and 112 students in the roll.It was permanently affiliated to Gauhati Universi ...

in 1971and

M.A 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 ...

(Ist Class) from

Gauhati 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 ...

in 1973 and an

LLB 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 Guwahati University Law College in 1978.

Early career

Rai was the Organising Secretary of Darrang Nepali Students Union from 1969-1971. He was a member of the Executive Committee, Darrang College Students Union from 1970-1971. He was also an Executive Committee Member (Departmental Representative) of Post Graduate Students Union,

from 1972-1973. He was also General Secretary of the Political Science Society, Gauhati University from 1972-1973. Rai was lecturer, Lok Nayak Omiya Kr.Das College,

Dhekiajuli Dhekiajuli is a town and a municipal board in Sonitpur district in the state of Assam, India. Geography Dhekiajuli is located at . It has an average elevation of 100 metres (328 ft). There are several tea estates in its vicinity. Som ...

Sonitpur Sonitpur district ron: ˌsə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊə or ˌʃə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊəis an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters is located at Tezpur. Etymology The name of the is derived from a mythological story fo ...

from July 1973 to September 1973. He was then a Lecturer at

Kohima College Nagaland University is a Central University established in the state of Nagaland by an Act of Parliament by the Government of India in 1989. It is headquartered at Lumami, Zünheboto District. Two other permanent campuses are located at Meriem ...

Kohima Kohima (; Angami Naga: ''Kewhira'' ()), is the capital of the Northeastern Indian state of Nagaland. With a resident population of almost 100,000, it is the second largest city in the state. Originally known as ''Kewhira'', Kohima was founded ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

from 1973 to 1979 while also being a part time lecture from 1978-1981 at Kohima Law college. He has been an advocate at

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, ...

and

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 ...

since 1979. He was President of Kohima Bar Association 1987-1988. He was also President of the Reception Committee of the Convention of North East Gorkha Students Federation held at Tezpur, Assam on 23,24 & 25 November 1997. He has been General Secretary, Assam Gorkha Sammelan since 1997.

Political career

Rai was elected to

on 13 May 2001, having been the

candidate for the constituency of Barchalla. He received 26567 votes, 35.79% of the total vote and he defeated the incumbent MLA for Barchalla, Prafulla Goswami, by 9112 votes. He was made Deputy Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly on 3 April 2002 and served until 14 May 2006. In the

2006 Assam Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in Assam in two phases between 3 and 10 April 2006 to elect members from all 126 constituencies of the state . Following the election, the incumbent Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi formed his second ministry. ...

, Rai was reelected as the Indian National Congress candidate for Barchalla. He polled 34461 votes, defeating AGP candidate Brindabon Goswami by 922 votes. He was unanimously elected Speaker of the 12th Assam Legislative Assembly. His election was announced by G C Langthasa. He was escorted to the Speaker's chair by

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

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 ...

, AGP legislative party leader

Brindaban Goswami Brindaban Goswami was a leader of Asom Gana Parishad and former Education Minister in Government of Assam. He was one of the student leaders who came into limelight during Assam Agitation. He was member of split group of Asom Gana Parishad known ...

and

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 Modi ...

leader Mison Ranjan Das. Later all party leaders of the Assembly congratulated him over his election. On 5 March 2010, 50 Opposition legislators blocked Rai from entering the Assembly for his alleged bias to the Congress-coalition. In the

2011 Assam Legislative Assembly Election The 13th Assam Legislative Assembly election was held in two phases on 4 and 11 April 2011 to elect members from 126 constituencies in Assam, India. The result was announced on 13 May. BJP was accused of turning the anti-immigrant feeling in Ass ...

, Rai was again reelected as the

candidate for Barchalla. He received 47270 votes, 48.19% of the total vote. He defeated his nearest opponent by 17574 votes.

Ministership

He was made Minister for Planning and Development, Judicial, Legislative, Pension & Public Grievance under

on 30 May 2011 in the Third Tarun Gogoi cabinet. On 4 November 2011 he sanctioned 60

crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

under the Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources for the construction of a bridge. On 20 October 2013, Rai along with the Assam Chief Secretary, the Assam DGP attended the swearing-in ceremony of the Chief Justice of

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 ...

Abhay Manohar Sapre Abhay Manohar Sapre (born 28 August 1954, Seoni) is a former Judge of Supreme Court of India. He had earlier served as the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court from 19 October 2013 to 12 August 2014 and as the first Chief Justice of Manipur ...

. He was one of 11 cabinet ministers who resigned following a cabinet reshuffle.

Post-ministerial career

In the

2016 Assam Legislative Assembly election The Assam Legislative Assembly Election of 2016 was held in two phases, on 4 and 11 April 2016, to elect members of the 126 constituencies in Assam, a state in North-eastern India. The overall voter turnout was 84.72%, which set a new record for ...

, Rai sought reelection. He received 30230 votes, being defeated by

candidate

Ganesh Kumar Limbu Ganesh Kumar Limbu is a Bharatiya Janata Party politician from Assam. Ganesh Kumar Limbu was born to Late Padam Bahadur Limbu. He has been elected in Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature o ...

by 23682 votes.

Personal life

He is married to Chandra Maya Rai and they have 1 son and 1 daughter. He enjoys reading, travelling and sports.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, Tanka Bahadur Assam MLAs 2001–2006 Assam MLAs 2006–2011 Assam MLAs 2011–2016 1950 births Living people Rai people State cabinet ministers of Assam