Constituency East Shillong Role Politician Constituency Laitumkhrah Parents Peter G. Marbaniang | Nationality Indian Party Indian National Congress Name Ampareen Lyngdoh Residence Laitumkhrah | |
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Political party Indian National Congress Other political
affiliations United Democratic Party (2008-09) Alma mater North Eastern Hill University Education North Eastern Hill University | ||
Mizoram elections: Ampareen Lyngdoh confident of Cong's win
Ampareen Lyngdoh is an Indian politician from Meghalaya who currently serves as a cabinet minister in the Government of Meghalaya.
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She started her political career as a member of the Indian Youth Congress, and then joined the United Democratic Party (UDP) in 2008. As a UDP candidate, she won the 2008 state assembly elections, becoming the only female MLA in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly at that time. She resigned from UDP in 2009, and joined the Indian National Congress (INC). She retained her seat in the 2009 by-election, and won from the East Shillong constituency in the 2013 state assembly elections.
Early life
Ampareen Lyngdoh was born in Shillong. She is the daughter of Peter G. Marbaniang, a former Member of Parliament.. Her brother Robert G Lyngdoh was a member of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly who also served as the Home Minister in the State Government.
Education
She completed her school education at Loreto Convent, Shillong. She completed her under-graduation in English at the Jesus and Mary College,. She graduated from Jamia Milia Islamia University in New Delhi with a Masters degree in Mass Communication . In 2013, Ampareen Lyngdoh earned a Ph.D. from the North Eastern Hill University. The title of her thesis was Influence of Media on Public Opinion During The Periods of Social Unrest: A Study of Meghalaya.. President Pranab Mukherjee presented her with her degree at the convocation.
Career
Ampareen Lyngdoh was a professor of Mass Communications at St. Anthony's College, Shillong before she joined active politics. She started her political career as a member of the Indian Youth Congress, the youth wing of Indian National Congress. After the Congress refused to give her a ticket for the 2008 state assembly elections, she joined the United Democratic Party. The UDP gave her an election ticket; 44 members of UDP resigned in protest, because her brother Robert G Lyngdoh was a Congress legislator and the state's education minister at that time. The protestors wanted the party to give ticket to Malcolm B. Tariang, the state president of UDP's youth wing. In March 2008, Lyngdoh was elected to the Meghalaya Assembly from the Laitumkhrah constituency, a stronghold of her family from which her father Peter and her brother Robert had been elected earlier. She defeated Tariang, who fought the election as an independent candidate.
Although Ampareen Lyngdoh won the election, her party was defeated by the Indian National Congress, which formed the government in Meghalaya. Subsequently, she met the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in Delhi, and resigned from UDP and the Assembly on 31 March 2009. She then joined the Congress; her new party rewarded her by making her the state's education minister, although she was no longer a legislator. Her resignation from the Assembly resulted in a by-election, which she won in August 2009. Once again, she defeated Tariang, who fought as a UDP candidate this time.
She was the only female legislator in the Meghalaya Assembly during 2008-2013. During these five years, her assets increased by 9000%, from ₹ 23,518 to ₹ 2,100,000, according to the affidavits she submitted to the Election Commission.
She served as the education minister and the urban affairs minister in the Meghalaya government. In 2012, anti-corruption activists demanded her resignation for a scam involving manipulation of recruitment exams for government jobs. Later in 2014, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) implicated her in the scam involving tampering of marksheets for appointment of school teachers. According to the CBI, candidates recommended by the ministers and MLAs were given the jobs at the expense of meritorious candidates.
In February 2013, she was re-elected to the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, from the East Shillong constituency (created after delimitation of Laitumkhrah constituency). She defeated the UDP candidate and former cabinet minister Bindo M Lanong. She was given charge of Urban Affairs, Municipal Administration and Labour ministries. She served in the new Government as a cabinet minister holding the departments of Urban Development, Labour and Housing. She was a chairperson of the Meghalaya Urban Development Agency.
On August 26th, 2016 she was given the charge of the departments of PWD (Buildings), Information Technology, Labour and Information & Public Relations after a cabinet re-shuffle.