D. K. Barooah

Dev Kant Barooah
দেৱ কান্ত বৰুৱা
President of the Indian National Congress
In office
1975–1977
Preceded byShankar Dayal Sharma
Succeeded byKasu Brahmananda Reddy
Union Minister of Petroleum and Chemicals
In office
5 February 1973 – 10 October 1974
Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi
Preceded byH. R. Gokhale
Succeeded byKeshav Dev Malviya
Governor of Bihar
In office
1 February 1971 – 4 February 1973
Chief Minister
Preceded byUjjal Narayan Sinha (Acting)
Succeeded byRamchandra Dhondiba Bhandare
Cabinet Minister, Assam
In office
1 March 1962 – 16 March 1967
Chief MinisterBimala Prasad Chaliha
Departments
  • Education
  • Co-operation
  • Tourism
Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly
In office
8 June 1957 – 15 September 1959
DeputyR. N. Baruah
Preceded byKuladhar Chaliha
Succeeded byMahendra Mohan Choudhry
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
21 March 1977 – 11 January 1980
Preceded byLiladhar Kotoki
Succeeded byMuhi Ram Saikia
In office
1952–1957
Succeeded byLiladhar Kotoki
ConstituencyNowgong
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
19 July 1973 – 21 March 1977
ConstituencyAssam
Member, Assam Legislative Assembly
In office
1962–1972
Preceded byUsha Barthakur
Succeeded byBishnu Prasad
ConstituencySamaguri
In office
1957–1962
Serving with Mahendra Nath Hazarika
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byMoti Ram Bora
ConstituencyNowgong
Personal details
Born(1914-02-22)22 February 1914
Died28 January 1996(1996-01-28) (aged 81)
PartyIndian National Congress

Dev Kant Barooah (22 February 1914 – 28 January 1996) was an Indian politician from Assam, who served as the 83rd President of the Indian National Congress during the Emergency from 1975 to 1978 and the seventh Governor of Bihar from 1971 to 1973. He also served as union cabinet minister for Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in Second Indira Gandhi ministry from 5 February 1973 to 10 October 1974. He was a member of the 1st Lok Sabha and 6th Lok Sabha. the elder brother of famous Assamese poet, Navakanta Barua and the first Assamese person to become the President of the Indian National Congress.

Early life

Baruah was born on 22 February 1914 to Nilkanta Baruah at Dibrugarh, Assam Province (present-day Assam). He studied at Nowgong Government High School and graduated from Banaras Hindu University. After joining the Indian freedom struggle, he was imprisoned in 1930, 1941 and 1942.[1]

Career

In 1949–1951, Baruah's political career began as a member of the Constituent Assembly.[2] He is now chiefly remembered for his alleged proclamation regarding Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, in 1974 "India is Indira. Indira is India."[3] However, he later parted ways with her and joined Congress (Urs), later renamed as Indian Congress (Socialist). He was the Governor of Bihar from 1 February 1971 to 4 February 1973. He died in New Delhi. He is the first and only Assamese to be elected as a president of Indian National Congress.

Baruah was a noted poet as well. His collection of Assamese poems, Sagar Dekhisa (সাগৰ দেখিছা), is still very popular. He was the elder brother of famous Assamese poet Nabakanta Barua.

References

  1. ^ "D.K. Borooah". Lok Sabha. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  2. ^ "D.K. Baruah in Indian National Congress". Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  3. ^ Ram Guha, India After Gandhi, p. 467