Himanta Biswa Sarma

Sarma was born on 1 February 1969 in Gandhi Basti, Ulubari, Guwahati to Kailash Nath Sarma and Mrinalini Devi.[4] Sarma passed his Schooling from Kamrup Academy School, Guwahati in 1985 and joined Cotton College, Guwahati for further studies. He was general secretary (GS) of Cotton college Student's Union from 1991 to 1992. He did his graduation in 1990 and post graduation in 1992 in political science from the Cotton College, Guwahati. Sarma did LLB From Government Law College, Guwahati and obtained PhD degree from Gauhati University. He was practicing law at Gauhati High Court from 1996 to 2001. Sarma married Riniki Bhuyan Sarma in 7 June 2001, with whom he has a son and a daughter.[4][5]

Sarma was elected to the Assam Legislative Assembly from Jalukbari for the first time in 2001 when he defeated Asom Gana Parishad leader Bhrigu Kumar Phukan and was re-elected in 2006 and then for the third consecutive term in 2011 with a record margin of more than 75,000 votes. Sarma held important portfolios (both state and cabinet) as Minister of State for Agriculture, Planning & Development, Finance, Health, Education, and Assam Accord Implementation from 2002 to 2014.

He was made Cabinet Minister for Health in 2006, and in 2011 he was also entrusted with the additional charge of Education. During his tenure, three Medical colleges in Jorhat, Barpeta and Tezpur came up. He also initiated work for five more medical colleges in Diphu, Nagaon, Dhubri, North Lakhimpur and Kokrajhar, which are now in various stages of implementation.

Even the Government of India in its various annual reports had singularly pointed out the achievements of the Health and Education departments of Assam. During his tenure more than 50,000 teachers were appointed for the first time through TET after he abolished the system of interviews.[6]

Sarma joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 23 August 2015 at the residence of Amit Shah at New Delhi. He was appointed as the party's Convener of the Election Management Committee for the upcoming Assembly Elections in the state. Subsequently, he won the Assembly elections and became a Cabinet Minister in the first BJP government in the North East India. Previously Sarma has served three terms as an MLA in Assam on Indian National Congress ticket.[5] He was elected from Jalukbari in 2001 and was re-elected in 2006 and 2011. After political differences with former chief minister Tarun Gogoi, Sarma resigned from all portfolios on 21 July 2014. He was the MLA of Jalukbari constituency until his resignation from Assembly on 15 September 2015.[5][7]

In May 2016, Sarma won Jalukbari constituency for the fourth consecutive term and was sworn in as Cabinet Minister on 24 May and has been allotted portfolios like Finance, Health & Family Welfare, Education, Planning & Development, Tourism, Pension & Public Grievances.

In November 2020, Biswa posted on social media, falsely claiming that supporters of AIUDF politician Ajmal Badruddin had shouted slogans in support of Pakistan to greet him, on his arrival at Silchar airport. Biswa's claim was reiterated by Assemese news channel, News Live, which is owned by Biswa's wife, and then also confirmed by several news channels and newspapers, including Times Now, CNN News18, and The New Indian Express. Biswa's posts were flagged by Facebook as misinformation and blocked from being shared, after independent third-party fact-checkers examined videos of the event, and demonstrated that the slogans shouted had consisted of the names of political leaders and not in support of Pakistan. Guwahati Police have since registered a First Information Report against Biswa and are investigating him "promoting enmity" between groups of persons, which is an offence under the Indian Penal Code, as well as for offences under the Information Technology Act.[8][9][10][11][12][13]

On 23 April 2017, Sarma was unanimously elected as President of Badminton Association of India. Sarma has been the president of the Assam Badminton Association. He also became the president of the Assam Cricket Association in June 2016 when his party man Pradip Buragohain became the secretary.[14][15][16][17] Sarma was also the longest-serving vice president of the association serving from 2002 to 2016.

• Official website
• Himanta Biswa Sarma on Twitter
• Himanta Biswa Sarma on Facebook