Guwahati (Assam) : Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with his council of ministers, took oath for his third term on Sunday. As expected, Assam’s seasoned politician Sarbananda Sonowal, who is a trusted lieutenant of the prime minister, was also sworn in as a minister in Modi 3.0 Cabinet.
In addition to Sonowal, another name came up as a surprise pick, who was Rajya Sabah member Pabitra Margherita. He was inducted as a minister of state in the Modi cabinet. Margherita emerged as a choice despite competition from many other MPs. On Sunday evening, Pabitra Margherita was sworn in as a minister of state by President Droupadi Murmu. Margherita took the oath in English.
Political journey: Pabitra Margherita has been able to achieve success in the field of politics in a very short span of time. In just a decade, he became a Union minister after becoming as Rajya Sabha MP without being required to face direct electoral battle. After joining the BJP in 2014, he became the chief spokesperson of the party. He also served as the chairman of Jyoti Chitraban Film and Television Institute (now known as Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Regional Government Film and Television Institute) from 2017 to 2021.
Margherita served as member secretary of State level advisory committee for students and youth welfare, Assam government, from November 2021 to March 2022.
After this, Pabitra Margherita was elected to the Rajya Sabha in March 2022. He also served as the political secretary to Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma during this period. Currently he is a member of the consultative committee of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Margherita also played an instrumental role in the recently concluded Lok Sabha Elections as he served as convenor of State Election Management Committee of Bharatiya Janata Party.
Entry in Team Modi 3.0: Margherita's name has come as a surprise to many. However as per political observers, induction of Margherita in Team Modi 3.0 is seen as a move to strengthen BJP’s presence among the Ahom community. Significantly BJP has lost the Ahom dominated prestigious Jorhat Lok Sabha seat to Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi, another notable Ahom leader. So Margherita’s induction into Modi cabinet, despite never having been a candidate in the poll battle, is seen as a tactical move to take the Ahom belt into confidence.
Before joining politics: It is to be noted that Pabitra Margherita was born on October 13, 1974 as Pabitra Gogoi. Later on he started to use the name of his birthplace ‘Margherita’ as his surname.
Before joining politics in 2014, Pabitra Margherita was associated with the field of art and culture for a long time. He was the founding editor-in-chief of the monthly cultural magazine Maya from 1998 to 2002. Margherita also served as the founding editor-in-chief of another Assam cultural monthly 'Saregama' from 2002 to 2005.
Before establishing as a politician, Margherita was an active personality in the field of film making and video albums as well. He has produced many Assamese films including the superhit movie ‘Mon Jai’ starring Zubeen Gag. He also produced the famous Assamese video cassette and video movie series ‘Jonbai’. Margherita is married to Gayatri Mahanta, a noted Assamese actress and acclaimed dancer since 2007.
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