Kiren Rijiju

Early life

Kiren Rijiju was born on 19 November 1971 in Nafra in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh in India. He was born to a leading family of Shri Rinchin Kharu and Smt. Chirai Rijiju. His father himself was the first pro-term speaker of Arunachal to give oath to the Members of the first State Assembly.

He was an active social worker since his school days; he led various social movements as a social worker and student leader. He was also a member of the youth and cultural team which participated in the Festival of India in USSR in 1987. He has widely visited many countries in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the US as a member of various Parliamentary delegations. He was named the best athlete in his school and college days and he has participated in the National Games.

He is a graduate of Hansraj College, University of Delhi and also has a graduate degree in Law from Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law University of Delhi. As a student he participated in the "Festival of India in USSR" held in Moscow in 1987.

Political career

Kiren Rijiju is considered the face of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in North East India. He served as a Member of Khadi and Village Industries Commission from 2000 to 2005. Kiren Rijiju is arguably the most iconic political leader from Arunachal Pradesh in recent times; he is often being referred to as the "voice of North East India". He occasionally writes articles on security & socio-economic issues.

Rijiju has entered the Lok Sabha for the second time from the Arunachal (West) constituency of Arunachal Pradesh in India.

Rijiju was placed among the top 5 opposition MPs reviewed by their peers in the treasury bench based on high benchmark in debates, discussions and decorum and was placed among stalwarts like L.K. Advani. He was also chosen as the best young MP by many national daily and English fortnightly magazine.

14th Lok Sabha

In the 2004 general election, he was elected as a member of the 14th Lok Sabha, representing the constituency of Arunachal West in the Indian Parliament, which is the fourth largest Parliamentary constituency in India and has held the post of National secretary of the BJP. He was one of the most outspoken parliamentarians in the 14th Lok Sabha.

15th Lok Sabha

In the 2009 general election, Kiren Rijiju was defeated under controversial circumstances by a very narrow margin of 1314 votes.

16th Lok Sabha

In the 2014 general election, Kiren Rijiju was again elected as a Member of Parliament in the 16th Lok Sabha elections, representing the Arunachal West constituency. Kiren defeated Takam Sanjoy of the Indian National Congress by a margin of 41,738 votes. He is in Narendra Modi’s best of 45 Cabinets’ list.

As a Union Minister

He was made Union Minister of State for Home Affairs of India on 26 May 2014. On 14 October 2014, in Arunachal Pradesh, he called for the construction of a road along the border of China (Tibet) in Arunachal. He again clarified the statement on 1 November 2014 in a clear manner, saying he was talking about infrastructure development in Indian territory and not in Chinese territory.

Controversy over flight delay

Rijiju is alleged to have delayed an Air India flight from Leh to Delhi for about an hour. Reports also claim that three passengers were offloaded, including a child, allegedly to accommodate the Minister and his aide. However, Rijiju while speaking to News Nation, said that he did not delay the flight. "We are investigating the matter," said Rijiju while speaking exclusively to the channel. According to sources, the aircraft doors were shut for takeoff on 24 June but the flight did not depart at its scheduled time as Rijuju, along with his PA, was delayed in boarding.

Personal life

His wife is Joram Rina Rijiju; the couple were married in 2004. She is a graduate from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi and is a gold medalist from Arunachal University. She is an assistant professor teaching history at Dera Natung Government College, Itanagar.