Taditui Rangkau Zeliang (born 21 February 1952) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Nagaland under Neiphiu Rio. He has served twice as the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

, from May 2014 to February 2017 and from July 2017 to March 2018. A leader of the

Naga People's Front The Naga People's Front (NPF) is a regional political party in Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. It headed the Nagaland government with the Bharatiya Janata Party, as part of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland from 2003 to 2018. NPF ...

, T. R. Zeliang previously served as a Member of Parliament, representing Nagaland 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 ...

, the upper house of the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India (ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The President o ...

. He served as the Chairman of

United Democratic Alliance (Nagaland) The United Democratic Alliance is a state-level political alliance in the Indian state of Nagaland. Background In the run-up to the 2018 Nagaland Legislative Assembly election, the ruling Naga People's Front split over whether to continue its ...

and was former leader of the NPF Legislature Party and former

Leader of Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Nagaland Legislative Assembly The Nagaland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Nagaland. Nagaland became a state of India on 1 December 1963 and after election in January 1964, the first Nagaland Legislative Assembly was formed on 11 F ...

.He represents the Peren Assembly constituency in Nagaland Legislative Assembly since 2008.

Early life and education

T. R. Zeliang was born to Rangleu Zeliang on 21 February 1952 to a Zeliang Naga family of Mbaupungwa village under Peren district. He received his early education and matriculated from Don Bosco High School in

Dibrugarh Dibrugarh () is a city in the Indian state of Assam, located 435 kms east of the state capital Dispur. It serves as the headquarters of the Dibrugarh district in Upper Assam. Dibrugarh also serves as the headquarters of the Sonowal Kach ...

, Assam and served as the President of Zeliangrong Students Union, General Secretary of Zeliangrong Action Committee and Zeliangrong Youth Organisation while in college. He later entered politics and became the President of Peren District Youth Congress of the

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 ...

Political career

Zeliang contested the Nagaland Assembly elections of 1982 and 1987 unsuccessfully from 6 Tening Assembly Constituency. He then won from Tening four times in a row beginning with the elections of 1989 as a candidate of the Naga People's Council and subsequently in 1993, 1998 and 2003 as a candidate of the

. He served as

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for Information and Tourism during 1989–90 and as Minister of State for Relief & Rehabilitation from 1994 to 1998. During 1998 – 2003, he was the Minister for Environment and Forests and Geology and Mining under the Ministry of S C Jamir. He formed Nagaland Congress in year 2003 and later merged it into

(NPF). From 2004 to 2008, he was a Member of Parliament to the

from Nagaland. Returning to State politics in 2008, he was Minister for Planning, Geology and Mining, Animal Husbandry and Parliamentary Affairs under the Ministry of

Neiphiu Rio Neiphiu Guolhoulie Rio (born 11 November 1950) is an Indian politician who is serving as the 9th and current Chief Minister of Nagaland since 2018, previously 2003 to 2014 and from 2018 till date. He is the only Nagaland Chief Minister to have ...

. He contested State elections 9 times out of which he lost the first two elections and won the remaining 7. He won the assembly elections of 2008, 2013 and 2018 from Peren.

Chief Minister of Nagaland

T. R. Zeliang was the

from May 2014 to February 2017 and from July 2017 to March 2018 as 19th Chief Minister of Nagaland. With 26 legislators in a House of 60, T.R. Zeliang was the legislature leader of the Naga Peoples' Front, the single largest Party in

. In 2022 T.R. Zeliang became the Chairman of

in the opposition less

Government of Nagaland The Government of Nagaland also known as the State Government of Nagaland, or locally as State Government, is the governing authority of the India state of Nagaland and its Districts of Nagaland, 17 districts. It consists of an executive branch ...

Deputy Chief Minister of Nagaland

In 2023, he was sworn in as the deputy chief minister along with BJP's

Yanthungo Patton Yanthungo Patton, also known as Y. Patton, is an Indian politician from Nagaland and current Deputy Chief Minister of the Indian state of Nagaland serving in the NDPP- BJP administration under Neiphio Rio. He is the BJP MLA from Tyüi Assem ...

References

External links

Profile on Rajya Sabha website
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeliang T R 1952 births Living people Rajya Sabha members from Nagaland Naga people People from Peren district Chief ministers of Nagaland Don Bosco schools alumni Naga People's Front politicians Nagaland MLAs 2003–2008 Chief ministers from Naga People's Front politicians Nagaland MLAs 1989–1992 Nagaland MLAs 1993–1998 Nagaland MLAs 1998–2003 Nagaland MLAs 2008–2013 Nagaland MLAs 2013–2018 Nagaland MLAs 2018–2023 Nagaland MLAs 2023–2028 Deputy chief ministers of Nagaland