D. K. Barooah

D. K. Barooah
President of the Indian National Congress
In office 1975–1977
Preceded by	Shankar Dayal Sharma
Succeeded by	Indira Gandhi
Personal details
Born	(1914-02-22)22 February 1914
Died	28 January 1996(1996-01-28) (aged 81)
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Indian National Congress

Dev Kant Barooah (22 February 1914 – 28 January 1996) was an Indian politician from Assam, who served as the President of the Indian National Congress during the Emergency (1975–77).

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 sycophancy to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, encapsulated by his c. 1974 proclamation that "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.

Barua 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[]

External links[]

• No. 103, The Incidence of Corruption in India:Is the Neglect of Governance Endangering Human Security in South Asia? Shabnam Mallick and Rajarshi Sen JANUARY 2006 at the Wayback Machine (archived 1 March 2006)