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Sarbananda Sonowal is an Indian politician. He is the 14th chief minister of Assam and is known as the Jatiya Nayak of Assam. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Wiki/Biography
Sarbananda Sonowal was born on Wednesday, 31 October 1962 (age 61 years; as of 2023) in Muluk Gaon located in the Dibrugarh district of Assam. His zodiac sign is Scorpio. He pursued his primary education at Muluk Gaon Primary School in Dibrugarh and studied till Class VI at Bindhakata Middle English School. Later, he completed schooling at Don Bosco High School, Dibrugarh. He pursued a Bachelor of Arts (English honours) at Dibrugarh Hanumanbax Surajmall Kanoi College under Dibrugarh University. After his graduation, he pursued an LLB at Dibrugarh University and a Bachelor of Journalism at Gauhati University.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 9″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family & Caste
Sarbananda Sonowal belongs to a Kachari tribe family in Assam.
Parents & Siblings
His father, Jibeswar Sonowal, was a farmer, and his mother, Dineswari Sonowal, was a homemaker. Sarbananda has two sisters, Dallmi Saikia, and Rumi Saikla, and five brothers, Misto Prasad Sonowal, Girish Sonowal, Duleswar Sonowal, Nareswar Sonowal, and Devananda Sonowal. Sarbanada is the youngest among his siblings.
Sarbananda Sonowal with his mother
Wife & Children
He is unmarried.
Religion
Sarbananda Sonowal follows Hinduism.
“I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance…”
On 11 September 1893, Swami Vivekananda delivered his historic speech at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago.
Remembering the thoughts of the great philosopher… pic.twitter.com/I0hhE8z1Pa
— Sarbananda Sonowal (@sarbanandsonwal) September 11, 2023
Address
1 No., Lakhimi Nagar, Near Auniati Sakha Sattra, Mankatta Road, P.O. & P.S. Dibrugarh, Distt. Dibrugarh, Assam
Signature
Career
Politics
Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)
In 2001, he became a member of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). He was elected as an MLA of the Assam Legislative Assembly from the Moran Constituency. In 2004, he was elected as a Lok Sabha member from the Moran constituency in Assam. In 2009, he lost the Lok Sabha elections from Dibrugarh. By the end of 2011, he resigned from Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).
Sarbananda Sonowal at a rally
Bharatiya Janata Party BJP
Sarbananda Sonowal joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2011. In 2012, Sonowal was appointed as the state president of BJP in Assam, and later, in the same year, he was appointed as a National Executive Member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Later, he became the State Spokesperson and General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam. In 2012, he was appointed as State President of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam.
Sarbananda Sonowal in Lok Sabha
He was elected as a Member of Parliament, 16th Lok Sabha, from the Lakhimpur Constituency in 2014. In 2014, he was appointed as the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge). In 2016, he resigned as a member of the Lok Sabha. On 19 May 2016, he won the Assam assembly elections from the Majuli Constituency and took oath as the chief minister of Assam.
Sarbananda Sonowal (left) and Himanta Biswa Sarma during a rally in 2018
In 2021, he again won the Assam Legislative Election from the Majuli constituency. On 9 May 2021, he resigned as the chief minister of Assam and named Himanta Biswa Sarma as his successor. On 27 September 2021, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Assam and assumed office on 1 October 2021. Later, he became the Minister of Ayush and the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways in the Narendra Modi government.
Sarbananda Sonowal (right) at a conference between India and ASEAN Countries
Assets & Properties
Movable Assets
- Bank Deposits: Rs. 23,62,200
- LIC or other insurance Policies: Rs.27,49,674
- Other Assets: Rs. 1,90,000
- Bonds, Debentures and Shares in Companies: Rs. 24,95,875
Immovable Assets
- Agricultural Land: Rs. 25,25,000
- Non-Agricultural Land: Rs. 20,00,000
- Residential Buildings: Rs. 37,00,000
Note: The given estimates of movable and immovable assets are according to the year 2014. It excludes the net worth of his dependents.
Net Worth
Sarbananda’s net worth for the financial year 2014 was estimated to be Rs. 1 crore. It excludes the net worth of his dependents.
Facts/Trivia
- Sonowal’s favourite colour is white and he is so obsessed with the colour, that almost every wall in his house is painted white.
- During his college days, he won the Mr. Dibrugarh Strongman title.
- In 2017, Sonowal started the annual Guwahati International Film Festival.
Sarbananda Sonowal (lighting the lamp) inaugurated the first Guwahati International Film Fest
- He was the chairman of the North East Students Organisation, from 1996 to 2000.
- He is very fond of high-speed cars and bikes.
- He is the second tribal to be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Assam.
- In 1992, Sonowal became the president of Assam’s oldest student body, the All Assam Students Union, a post he held until 1999.
- Sarbananda Sonowal represented India at the Eastern Economic Forum, 2023 in Vladivostok.
- On 12 July 2005, he filed a case to shut down the IMDT Act 1983, which described the ways to find immigrants in Assam from Bangladesh and deport them. Sonowal described the act as “wholly arbitrary, unreasonable and discriminating against a class of citizens of India, making it impossible for citizens who are residents in Assam to secure the detection and deportation of foreigners from Indian soil.” Talking about the act, in an interview, Sonowal said,
IMDT Act is only encouraging vote bank politics without addressing the problem of illegal migrants, the Assam government had supported the law, saying it was equities.”
The SC directed that all the tribunals constituted under the IMDT Act would “cease to function” with immediate effect as the Parent Act had been declared unconstitutional. Cases pending before the tribunals would stand transferred to tribunals under the Foreigners Act, the Court said.