Devanand Konwar (18 November 1937 – 25 April 2020) was an Indian statesman, lawyer, and educationist who served as the governor of Bihar from 2009 to 2013 and as the governor of Tripura from 2013 to 2014. A member of the Indian National Congress, he held the additional charge of governor of West Bengal from December 2009 to January 2010. Konwar served in various ministerial positions in the Assam state government from 1991 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2004, most notably as finance minister under Tarun Gogoi from 2001 to 2002. He was the Member of Assam Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Sibsagar from 1983 to 1985 and for Thowra from 1991 to 2006.

Born in Tinsukia, Konwar passed the matriculation exam from Khowang High School and later received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Cotton College. He then studied for a Master of Arts (MA) from Delhi University and then a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Gauhati university. Konwar began his career as an English lecturer at Cotton College and went on to work for the American firm Standard Vacuum Oil Company in Mumbai. He established Guwahati College, and served as its founder principal from 1968 to 1969. Konwar joined the Gauhati High Court Bar in November 1969 and practiced there and at the Supreme Court of India as an advocate until 1991. He served as the government advocate for the states of Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. Konwar joined the Indian National Congress as a student leader in 1955, and coordinated the election campaign for the 1978 election. Between 1982 and 1990, he held various positions within the party and the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, including as general secretary and vice president of the latter organisation.

Konwar was elected to the Assam Legislative Assembly as the Congress candidate for the Sibsagar constituency in the 1983 Assam election. He left office at the subsequent election held two years later, but remained active in party politics. Konwar wished to contest the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, but the party was unable to accommodate him, and he instead ran for the Thowra constituency in the 1991 Assam election. After his successful election, Konwar was appointed to the cabinet under Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia as the Law Minister. Following the death of Saikia in 1996, he was reappointed under Bhumidhar Barman, but left office after Congress was defeated in the election held the same year and entered opposition. After Congress returned to power following the 2001 election, Konwar returned to the cabinet as the Finance, Revenue, and Power minister under Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. He was removed from his finance and revenue portfolios in 2002 but retained his position as power minister. Gogoi dismissed Konwar from the cabinet for alleged dissident activities against him in 2004. Konwar was speculated by the media as a potential successor to Gogoi, but went on to lose his seat to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the 2006 election.

After leaving office, Konwar continued in party politics before, in June 2009 he was appointed the governor of Bihar. In December of the same year, he was given the additional charge of West Bengal, holding the position until January 2010. As Bihar governor, in 2011, his office began to clash with the state government over Konwar's refusal to give assent to several higher education bills, which caused a decline in the relationship between Konwar and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The following year in 2012, Konwar controversially appointed six vice-chancellors and pro-vice chancellors, which the state government alleged was without consultation. The Patna High Court cancelled the appointments, a decision which the Supreme Court later stayed. Konwar continued to allegedly appoint vice-chancellors without the state government's permission, further deteriorating relations with Kumar. After an expenses controversy and opposition protests during his 2013 budget speech, Konwar was transferred to become Tripura governor, serving until his retirement in 2014. He wished to return to Assam state politics, but amid political disagreements with Gogoi, he defected to the AIUDF. Konwar died in 2020 at his residence in Guwahati and was cremated with full state honours.

Early life, ancestry, and education Devanand Konwar was born on 18 November 1937 at the Rajah Ali tea estate in Tinsukia, to Padma Kanta Konwar and Kusum Kumari Konwar. His father worked at the Rajah Ali tea estate when he was born. He was the eldest of three brothers and six sisters.

Konwar completed his primary education at Nitaipukhuri. Konwar studied in Khowang as his father worked at the Khowang tea estate; he passed the matriculation exam from Khowang High School in the 1st division. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Cotton College and a Master of Arts (MA) from Delhi University in English. Konwar then studied for a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Gauhati university.

Career

Early roles Konwar began his career as a lecturer in the English Department of Cotton College in Guwahati. In 1961, he went to work for the American firm Standard Vacuum Oil Company in Mumbai as a marketing manager and remained in that position for seven years. He coordinated petroleum products distribution networks in Northern and Eastern India from Trombay, Vizag, Barauni, Noonmati, Digboi Refineries and Budge-Budge sea Terminal and another company, Inland Product Terminals.

Konwar established a Degree College in Guwahati City known as Guwahati College, and was its founder Principal from 1968 to 1969.

Legal career In November 1969, Konwar joined Gauhati High Court Bar and practiced there as well as in the Supreme Court of India as an Advocate until 1991. He professionally served as Government Advocate for the States of Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram in the Gauhati High Court.

Political career

Early involvement and positions He joined the Indian National Congress party in 1955 as a student leader. When the Congress party split in two, he aligned himself with the Congress (I) faction. In 1978, instead of contesting as a candidate, Konwar was tasked with coordinating the election campaign for the Congress party.

Between 1982 and 1990, Konwar held various party positions at both the state and district level. He served including as the general secretary of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee for two years from 1982 to 1984 and then as the vice president for six years from 1984 to 1990.

Sibsagar MLA (1983–1985) In the 1983 Assam legislative assembly election, Konwar stood as the Congress candidate for the Sibsagar constituency. He was elected with 700 votes, which was 67.7% of the total vote. He obtained a majority of 490 votes, defeating communist candidate Promode Gogoi.

At the 1985 Assam legislative assembly election, Konwar was not reselected as the Congress candidate for the Sibsagar constituency, which instead went to Troilukyada Gogoi.

Later activities (1985–1991) In 1989, Konwar was chosen to lead a 28-member FSU (Friends of the Soviet Union) delegation composed of participants from Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to Moscow, Kyiv, Almaty, Tashkent, Sochi, Leningrad and other areas in the Soviet Republics.

Konwar was keen to contest the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, but the party was unable to accommodate his candidacy.

Thowra MLA

First term (1991–1996)

In the 1991 Assam legislative assembly election, Konwar stood for the Thowra constituency. He was elected for the constituency with 18,569 votes, obtaining 38.55% of the total vote. Konwar won a majority of 7347 votes, defeating the nearest competitor who was an Asom Gana Parishad candidate.

In the Second Saikia ministry, Konwar was appointed the Cabinet minister for Law, Power Revenue, and Municipal Administration under Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia. After the death of Saikia, he was reappointed the ministerial position under Chief Minister Bhumidhar Barman. He held office until 1996.

Second term (1996–2001) At the 1996 Assam legislative assembly election, Konwar was reelected with 15439 votes. He received 29.42% of the total vote. He defeated his nearest opponent by 4135 votes. Congress was defeated overall in the election, and Konwar went to opposition.

Third term (2001–2006)

Ministerial career

At the 2001 Assam legislative assembly election, Konwar obtained 24976 votes and was reelected. He won 43.91% of the total vote, and obtained a majority of 12256 votes.

In the first Tarun Gogoi ministry, he served as the Minister of Finance and Revenue, as well as Minister for Power. He was removed from his portfolios of finance and revenue in June 2002. In the July 2004, following the 91st amendment to the constitution of India which mandated states to downsize the amount of cabinet ministers in the state government, Konwar was dismissed from cabinet. The Indian Express later reported that this was due to his alleged dissident activities against Gogoi.

Final assembly years In April 2006, amid concerns over the political leadership of Gogoi, Konwar was speculated as a potential Congress candidate for Chief Minister to succeed Gogoi and lead the party in the 2006 election.

In 2004, Konwar was appointed the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee observer in the Assembly elections in the northeastern states of Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Mizoram, and in 2005 for Odisha.

Konwar was defeated at the 2006 Assam Legislative Assembly election, losing his seat to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Kushal Dowari.

Later career (2006–2009) In the 2009 elections, he was the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee Observer for Arunachal Pradesh. In the elections, Congress regained seats from the BJP.

Gubernatorial career

Bihar (2009–2013)

Appointment and tenure On 24 June 2009, Konwar was appointed governor of Bihar, succeeding the outgoing R.L. Bhatia. On 29 June, Konwar was sworn in as governor in a ceremony at Raj Bhavan, Patna. Acting Chief Justice Shiva Kirti Singh administered the oath of office and secrecy to Konwar. Dignitaries present at the ceremony included Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary, acting Legislative Council chairman Arun Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, numerous ministers, and bureaucrats. Additionally, the family of Konwar and other friends from Assam, as well as senior Congress leaders, attended the ceremony. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wished success for Konwar with the appointment, and stated that the "governor is now a Bihari and he will certainly be of great help in maintaining cordial relations between the two states".In January 2013, Konwar argued that India had a tendency to focus on quantity over quality, and advocated for course correction to help address the issue. In his address to students at a university, Konwar underpinned the importance of standards in governance, and cited China as an example of the course correction he supported.

In his 2013 joint session of the Bihar assembly budget speech, Konwar stated that his government was committed to development and justice, and would soon become a developed state. Also in his speech, Konwar stressed the implementation of the 2009 Bihar Special Court Act and also effective control of criminals with the Crime and Criminal Tracking Networking system scheme. Konwar listed the achievements of his government in the speech, including in areas such as education, healthcare, and urban development. Konwar also claimed that the decline in crime in the state had been as a result of various crime control measures.

Legislative affairs