Tathagata Roy

Tathagata Roy
Roy in 2015
Governor of Meghalaya
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 August 2018
Preceded by	Ganga Prasad
Governor of Tripura
In office 20 May 2015 – 25 August 2018
Preceded by	Padmanabha Acharya
Succeeded by	Kaptan Singh Solanki
President of Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal
In office 2002–2006
Preceded by	Ashim Ghosh
Succeeded by	Sukumar Banerjee
Personal details
Born	(1945-09-14) 14 September 1945 Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Alma mater	Bengal Engineering & Science University (B.E.) University of Calcutta (LLB)

Tathagata Roy (born 14 September 1945) is an Indian politician, currently serving as Governor of Meghalaya since August 2018. He had previously served as Governor of Tripura (2015–2018), following a political career with the Bharatiya Janata Party, which included a stint as President of its West Bengal state unit (2002–2006). He was then a member of the BJP National Executive, the party's central policy-making body, from 2002 till 2015.

Roy also briefly had additional charge of the office of Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, during which he handled the ouster of Chief Minister Kalikho Pul following a Supreme Court judgement and swore in Pema Khandu as the new Chief Minister. An engineer by training, Roy is a former professor of construction engineering at Jadavpur University.

Life and works

Tathagata Roy was born on 14 September 1945 in Kolkata to Debesh Chandra Roy and Anila (née Dutta). He had a distinguished academic career, having been a rank holder in the school leaving examination and a Jagadis Bose National Science Talent Search Scholar. He studied Civil Engineering in Bengal Engineering College Sibpur (currently Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur), when it was affiliated with the University of Calcutta. Later he joined Indian Railways Service of Engineers. He worked as General Manager, RITES and as Chief Engineer -Design of Metro Railways, Calcutta. He also holds a Law Degree of Calcutta University.

Roy took voluntary retirement from the Railways in 1990. He then joined Jadavpur University as professor and founder head of the Department of Construction Engineering at its new campus at Salt Lake, Calcutta. He is a former Chairman Board of Governors of TTTI Calcutta (2000 to 2005). He is a fellow of the Institution of Engineers and life member of the Indian Council of Arbitration.. He functioned as an arbitrator in a number of engineering contracts till he became governor.

Roy was felicitated as an 'Eminent Engineering Personality' by the Institution of Engineers (India) at the Engineering Congress held at Guwahati in December 2015 and awarded the distinguished Alumni award by Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, formerly Bengal Engineering College Sibpur during the Second Annual Convocation of the Institute on 4th March 2016. He was also conferred the degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) by the Shri Jagdishprasad Jhabarmull Tibrewala University, Vidyanagari, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, at a special convocation at Mumbai in May 2016. He was further conferred the degree of Doctor of Engineering (Honoris Causa) by the National Institute of Technology, Agartala, Tripura, at the convocation in November 2016.

Politics

Roy was attracted towards Hindutva and became a Swayamsevak in 1986. After leaving government service he joined the BJP in 1990. He replaced Ashim Ghosh as president of the West Bengal state unit of the BJP in 2002 and was succeeded by Sukumar Banerjee in 2006.

Roy stood as a candidate for election to the Lok Sabha in 2009, standing in the North Kolkata constituency of West Bengal. He did not win. He stood as the BJP candidate in the Kolkata Dakshin (South Kolkata) parliamentary constituency for the Indian general election, 2014, earning 25.29% of the total votes polled.He was selected as the Governor of Tripura on 12th of May 2015. He was transferred and appointed as the Governor of Meghalaya in August 2018.

Publications

Roy writes extensively, mostly socio-political articles, both in English and in his native Bengali. He has been published in The Statesman, BJP Today, Desh (Bengali fortnightly) and several others. He has authored five books:

• Ja Chhilo Amar Desh (Bengali) (Mitra & Ghosh, Kolkata, 2016)
• My People, Uprooted: The Exodus of Hindus from East Pakistan and Bangladesh (Synergy Books India, New Delhi, 2016), earlier published under the title A Suppressed Chapter in History: The Exodus of Hindus from East Pakistan and Bangladesh, 1947-2006, (Bookwell, Delhi, 2007)
• "Syama Prasad Mookerjee: Life and Times", (Penguin/Viking, Delhi, 2018), earlier published under title The Life and Times of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, (Prabhat Prakashan, Delhi, 2012). Also translated into Hindi under title Apratim Nayak Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee (Prabhat Prakashan, Delhi, 2012)
• Tathagata Rayer Nirbachito Probondho Songroho (Bengali), Vivekananda Sahitya Kendra, Kolkata, 2008
• Engineering Contracts in India: Law, Practice and Management, (Bharat Book Agency, Calcutta, 1990)

Family

Roy is the elder brother of Saugata Roy, the All India Trinamool Congress MP and former Minister of State for Urban Development.. He is married, with two married daughters Malini (Rao) and Madhura (Khedekar), both of whom live in the United States. His wife Anuradha taught English at B.K.C. College, Kolkata

References

• http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20021019/nation.htm#8