Bijoya Chakravarty (born 7 October 1939), is an Indian politician of

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 ...

. She served as the Member of the Lok Sabha from Gauhati from 2009 to 2019 and from 1999 to 2004. She was the Union Minister of State for Water Resources from 1999 to 2004. She was also the Member of the Rajya Sabha from 1986 to 1992 as a member of the Asom Gana Parishad. She was one of the first members of the Bharatiya Janata Party. She was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in 2021.

Background

Bijoya began her political career in the

Janata Party The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jaiprakash Bandhu. The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political partie ...

. She subsequently joined the regional

Asom Gana Parishad Asom Gana Parishad (translation: ''Assam People's Council'', AGP) is a political party in the state of Assam, India. The AGP was formed following the historic Assam Accord of 1985 and formally launched at the Golaghat Convention held from 13 t ...

and served in the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

from 1986 to 1992. Following her stint in the Rajya Sabha, she joined the

Bhartiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Since 2014, ...

. She represented the

Gauhati 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 ...

in the

13th Lok Sabha The 13th Lok Sabha (20 October 1999 – 6 February 2004) is the thirteenth session of the Lok Sabha (House of the People, or lower house in the Parliament of India). It was convened after 1999 Indian general election held during September–Oct ...

. She won this seat for the BJP for the first time ever in 1999. Under the premiership of

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

, she served as the Union Minister of State for Water Resources. In 2004, the BJP decided to field singer

Bhupen Hazarika Bhupen Hazarika (; 8 September 1926 – 5 November 2011), widely known as Sudha Kontho, was an Indian singer, songwriter, writer, filmmaker and politician from Assam. He has written songs mainly in the Assamese language, which are marked by h ...

in her place, causing widespread protests from BJP party workers. Hazarika lost the elections. The BJP understood its mistake and re-nominated Bijoya in the 2009 Lok Sabha election from the Gauhati seat. As a result, she again won the seat in 2009 and 2014 representing the BJP.

Personal life

Chakravarty was born to B.K. Thakur and Mukhyada Thakur on 7 October 1939 in Baligaon village of

Jorhat district Jorhat (pron: ˈʤɔ:(r)ˌhɑ:t) is an administrative district of the Indian state of Assam situated in the central part of the Brahmaputra Valley. The district is bounded by Majuli on north, Nagaland state on the south, Sivasagar on the east an ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. A post graduate with

Masters of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

, she received her education from Guwahati University and

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...

. She married Jiten Chakravarty on 1 June 1965, with whom she has a son and a daughter. Her daughter

Suman Haripriya Suman Haripriya (born 1 June 1979) is an Indian film director, producer and politician who is serving as the Member of the Assam Legislative Assembly representing Hajo constituency since 2016 as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Person ...

was elected to 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 ...

election in 2016 from Hajo Vidhan Sabha constituency. Her son, Ranajit Chakravarty, died in May 2017 at the age of 49.

Positions held

*1977–1979 District Secretary, Janata Party, Mangaldoi (Assam) *1986–1992

Member of parliament, Rajya Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of the States and union territories of India, Indian states to the upper house of the Parliament of India which is known as "Rajya Sabha" (constitutionally "Cou ...

*1999–2004

Member of parliament, Lok Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha ( abbreviated: MP) is the representative of a legislative constituency in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct elections ...

representing

(Assam) *1999–2004 Union Minister of State for Water Resources *2007–present National Vice-president,

References

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chakravarty, Bijoya 1939 births Living people People from Jorhat district Women in Assam politics India MPs 2009–2014 Lok Sabha members from Assam India MPs 1999–2004 Rajya Sabha members from Assam India MPs 2014–2019 Janata Party politicians Asom Gana Parishad politicians Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Assam 20th-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians Women union ministers of state of India Union ministers of state of India Recipients of the Padma Shri in public affairs Women members of the Rajya Sabha Women members of the Lok Sabha