Know your politicians: Facts you need to know about Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal

FACTS:

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal turned 59 on Saturday (Oct 31) and was greeted by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence minister Rajnath Singh, Governor Jagadish Mukhi, his cabinet colleagues and other political leaders.

Here are some facts you need to know about the Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal:

Sonowal was born in the year 1961 on October 31 at Molokgaon located in the Dibrugarh district of Assam.

He is the son of Jibeswar Sonowal and Dineswari Sonowal. He completed his bachelor's degree with English Honours from Hanumanbaksh Kanoi College under Dibrugarh University and his LLB from Gauhati University.

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Sarbananda Sonowal was the President of Assam's oldest student body, the All Assam Students Union from 1992 to 1999. After that, he became a member of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). In 2001, he was elected the MLA from Moran constituency of Assam. From 2004-2009, he was a member of the Lok Sabha representing Dibrugarh constituency.

Sarbananda Sonowal, however, resigned from all executive posts within AGP and left the party, due to dissatisfaction with the leadership of the party after attempted to forge an alliance with a party that was against the scrapping of the controversial- the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal ) IMDT Act.

On 8 February 2011, Sonowal joined the BJP in the presence of the then BJP National President Nitin Gadkari and senior leaders like Varun Gandhi, Vijay Goel, Bijoya Chakravarty and state BJP president Ranjit Dutta.

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In 2014 general election for Lok Sabha, he elected as Member of Parliament, 16th Lok Sabha from Lakhimpur Constituency; he was then appointed as Union Minister of State-Independent Charge under the Modi Government at the centre.

He was appointed as a member of the BJP National Executive and later on as the State Spokesperson of the BJP unit, prior to his current assignment to head the state as the new president.

On 28 January 2016, BJP Parliamentary Board announced Sarbananda Sonowal as BJP Chief Ministerial candidate of Assam.

He was selected as the CM candidate of BJP for the 2016 Assam Assembly Election.

On 19 May 2016, Sarbananda Sonowal won the Assembly Election from Majuli Constituency, propelling him to the post of the Chief Minister of Assam.

He had also served as the former Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of India.