Ajanta Neog (born 1964) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the Minister of Finance and Women and Child Development in the

Government of Assam The Government of Assam or Assam Government abbreviated as GoAS, is the Subnational legislature, state government of the Indian state of Assam. It consists of the Governors of states of India, Governor appointed by the President of India as th ...

since May 2021. She is the first woman Finance Minister of Assam. She has been representing the

Golaghat Golaghat ( ''Gʊlaɡʱat'' ) one of the largest subdivisions of the Indian state of Assam, later elevated to the position of a full–fledged district headquarter on 5 October 1987, is a city and a municipality and the seat of administrativ ...

Assembly seat consecutively for the past five terms since 2001. She also holds the record for being the longest-serving female legislator of Assam. Currently, she is a member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

which she joined in December 2020.

Early life and education

Ajanta Neog was born in

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest 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 seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

to late Sasadhar Das and late Rebati Das. Her mother Rebati Das, was a former 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 ...

representing Jalukbari constituency. She completed MA, LLB and LLM 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 and is the oldest un ...

and is an alumna of Handique Girls College. After completing her education, she practised law as an advocate at

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 with effect from 5 April 1948, for the then-province of Assam. It was originall ...

for a few years.

Indian National Congress

She was first elected to the Assembly in 2001 after defeating her nearest rival by over 10000 votes. She was again victorious in the subsequent election held in 2006. In the 2011 assembly elections she won by a huge margin of 46171 votes. Consecutively, she won the 2016 assembly elections despite a 'BJP Wave' in upper Assam where a vast majority of the Congress candidates were defeated. She held the position of Minister for Public Works Department (Roads and Building, National Highways), Urban Development and Housing, and had been in the last three Cabinets. She was also given the additional charge of Minister for Planning and Development, Judicial, Legislative, Pension & Public Grievance in 2015. She was conferred with the Golaghat ratna award by the united chamber of commerce, Golaghat. During her tenure as the PWD minister, Assam achieved huge success in infrastructure development. Assam was adjudged the "Best Infrastructure Development State" in the big state category in the 13th States Conclave by India Today group held on 6 November 2015. Assam was adjudged the best State in Infrastructure Development because it had registered a 17 per cent increase in the length of Pucca road from 2011 to 2013–14, whereas the National average for the same period was four per cent.

Bharatiya Janata Party

In December 2020, Ajanta Neog along with Rajdeep Goala (both incumbent legislators) joined the

after being expelled from

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 ...

for their alleged "anti-party" activities. She called her former party ‘vision less’ and disconnected from people while speaking to reporters. She also said that she is joining the BJP to protect the interest of the indigenous people of Assam from the ‘unholy’ alliance of the Congress Party and AIUDF. She subsequently won the 2021 Assembly election from the

constituency on a BJP ticket defeating her nearest rival from the Congress party. With this victory, she became an MLA for the 5th consecutive term from Golaghat constituenc

She was inducted into the Sarma ministry, Himanta Biswa Sarma cabinet as the Finance Minister creating history by being the first woman to hold the finance portfolio in the state.

Personal life

Ajanta Neog was married to Karmashree Nagen Neog who was killed along with eight others by the outlawed

United Liberation Front of Assam The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is an armed separatist insurgent organisation, that operates in the Indian state of Assam. It seeks to establish an independent sovereign nation state of Assam for the indigenous Assamese people throu ...

in 1996. Her husband was a former minister and belonged to the Chutia ethnic group. She has two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neog, Ajanta Indian National Congress politicians from Assam Assam MLAs 2001–2006 Assam MLAs 2006–2011 Assam MLAs 2011–2016 Assam MLAs 2016–2021 State cabinet ministers of Assam Women members of the Assam Legislative Assembly Living people Politicians from Guwahati People from Golaghat 21st-century Indian women politicians Women state cabinet ministers of India Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Assam Assam MLAs 2021–2026 1964 births