Syeda Anwara Taimur, Assam’s only woman Chief Minister passed away on Monday. She was 84.
A four-time Congress MLA who won her first election in 1972, Ms. Taimur became the Chief Minister for a little more than six months during the height of the anti-foreigners’ agitation in the State. Her tenure ended on June 30, 1981.
Ms Taimur represented the Congress in the Rajya Sabha twice before joining the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in 2011.
She had made headlines in 2018 when her name did not figure in the updated National Register of Citizens. She later said members of her family might not have applied to get her name included in the list. Ms Taimur has been living with her son in Australia for the past four years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi and State Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal condoled her death and underlined her contribution for the development of the State.
State Congress president Ripun Bora, the party’s leader of opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia and AIUDF president Maulana Badruddin Ajmal also mourned Ms Taimur’s death reportedly due to cardiac arrest.
