Bhumidhar Barman (12 October 1931 – 18 April 2021) was an Indian Politician belonging to the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
. He was the shortest-serving
Chief Minister of Assam, with a short period of twenty two days from
22 April 1996 to 14 May 1996. He was a member of the
Assam Legislative Assembly
The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral Assam Legislature, legislature of the List of states and union territories of India, Indian state of Assam. It is housed in Dispur, the capital city of Assam, geographically situated in present L ...
being elected 7 times. He was first elected in 1967. In 2015, he was made a Cabinet Minister of Assam.
Early life and education
Bhumidhar Barman was born on 12 October 1931 to the late Bhakat Ram Barman and the late Mathupriya Barman in Belsor.
He passed his matriculation from
Tihu High School in 1951.
His Father, late Bhakat Ram Barman was a well-established businessman of his area. He completed his schooling
Tihu High school, thereafter at
Cotton College and finally his MBBS degree from
Assam Medical College. He was among the last batch of students to have passed out from
Calcutta University
The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...
.
Initially he started practising nearby his village people who were deprived of the medical facility and soon became famous as Bhumi Doctor.
Political career
He joined
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
in 1967 and got elected from then west
Nalbari
Nalbari is a small town in Nalbari district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Assam. Nalbari is also the headquarters of Nalbari district, Nalbari District.
Etymology
The word ''Nalbari'' is derived from and . is a ...
constituency and again in 1972.
He again was elected in 1983 but for
Dharmapur. After
Hiteshwar Saikia's death, he was made
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 ter ...
for a serving of twenty two days before being succeeded by
Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. He was again elected to the
Assembly in 1991 for
Barkherty and again in 2001 until 2016. Barman was made a minister many times throughout his career. Barman was the oldest member in the council of ministers of Assam in 2010.
He was made acting Chief Minister when
Tarun Gogoi
Tarun Gogoi (1 April 1936 – 23 November 2020) was an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 13th Chief Minister of Assam from 2001 to 2016. He was the longest serving Chief Minister of Assam. He was a member of the Indian National Con ...
was hospitalised in
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
for heart surgery.
Personal life
Barman married Malati Barman and they had 1 son and 3 daughters. His daughters are Dipali Barman, Reena Barman Kalita and Rita Barman Hazarika. His son
Diganta Barman contested for the
Barkherty seat in 2016 but lost. However he won in
2021
Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
.
Death
Barman had been admitted to Dispur Hospital on March 13. He had been suffering for chronic kidney disease and other heart issues.
He was put into the ICU under ventilation. Senior congress leaders such as
Ripun Bora
Ripun Bora (born 1 October 1955) is an Indian politician and leader of the Indian National Congress party from Assam. He served as President of the Assam Trinamool Congress, Assam Trinamool Congress from 2022 to 2024. He was the President of ...
visited him.
Barman died at 6:23 pm 18 April 2021. Many politicians such as
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
,
Venkaiah Naidu
Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu (born 1 July 1949) is an Indian politician who served as the vice president of India from 2017 to 2022. He has also served as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, minister of Housing and Urban Pover ...
,
Sarbananda Sonowal
Sarbananda Sonowal (; born 31 October 1962) is an Indian politician who has served as Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways since 2021. He also has been the Government of India, Member of the Rajy ...
,
Himanta Biswa Sarma
Himanta Biswa Sarma (born 1 February 1969) is an Indian politician and lawyer serving as the 15th and current Chief Minister of Assam since 2021. A former member of the Indian National Congress, Sarma joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 23 Au ...
,
Ripun Bora
Ripun Bora (born 1 October 1955) is an Indian politician and leader of the Indian National Congress party from Assam. He served as President of the Assam Trinamool Congress, Assam Trinamool Congress from 2022 to 2024. He was the President of ...
,
Keshab Mahanta,
Debabrata Saikia, Lurinjyoti Gogoi,
Chandra Mohan Patowary,
Jitendra Singh,
Abdul Khalque,
Pradyut Bordoloi,
Bhupen Kumar Borah,
Badruddin Ajmal
Badruddin Ajmal (born 12 February 1950) is an Indian businessman, politician, philanthropist and Islamic theologian from the state of Assam. He is the state-president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind for Assam. He was the Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha ...
, Raijor Dal all paid tribute.
The
State Government
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...
declared a three-day state mourning period where the national flag was flown half-mast in all offices where it was flown regularly and no official entertainment was held.
Assam police gave a 21-gun salute to the Congress stalwart at the funeral which was attended by
Sarbananda Sonowal
Sarbananda Sonowal (; born 31 October 1962) is an Indian politician who has served as Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways since 2021. He also has been the Government of India, Member of the Rajy ...
,
Ranjeet Kumar Dass,
Ripun Bora
Ripun Bora (born 1 October 1955) is an Indian politician and leader of the Indian National Congress party from Assam. He served as President of the Assam Trinamool Congress, Assam Trinamool Congress from 2022 to 2024. He was the President of ...
, Barman's son
Diganta and other politicians. Diganta performed his last rites with all family members present. The body of Barman was brought to his village in a vehicle decorated with flowers. Before bringing the body to his native village, Barman's body was taken to
Assam Legislative Assembly
The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral Assam Legislature, legislature of the List of states and union territories of India, Indian state of Assam. It is housed in Dispur, the capital city of Assam, geographically situated in present L ...
where Cabinet minister
Chandra Mohan Patowary, Chief Secretary
Jishnu Barua and DGP
Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta paid tributes to Barman.
His body was next taken to the congress headquarters, Nalbari deputy commissioner's office and
Rajiv Bhawan where people paid tribute to the Chief minister.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barman, Bhumidhar
Chief ministers of Assam
Indian National Congress politicians from Assam
1931 births
2021 deaths
Politicians from Guwahati
People from Nalbari
Chief ministers from Indian National Congress
State cabinet ministers of Assam
Assam MLAs 1967–1972
Assam MLAs 1972–1978
Assam MLAs 1983–1985
Assam MLAs 1991–1996
Assam MLAs 2001–2006
Assam MLAs 2006–2011
Assam MLAs 2011–2016