MP Rameswar Teli – an insight

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet of ministerstook oath on Thursday, one of Assam's popular voice was also heard taking hisoath as Minister of State. Yes, it was none other than Rameswar Teli, thesecond time BJP MP, who has climbed all his way to be on that dias.

But who is Rameswar Teli?

A simple, unmarried man, a man unheard of until 2001, when hecontested the Assam Assembly elections as a BJP candidate for the first timeand defeated the Congress bastion in the Duliajan constituency.

Teli was born to Budhu Teli (father) and Dukla Teli (mother)on August 14, 1970 in the Tipling area of Dibrugarh district of Assam.

Perhaps, it was lack of a BJP candidate in Upper Assam thatlanded Teli in that spot in 2001, after which there was no turning back. Theformer MLA retained the seat in 2006 Assembly polls, but lost it to Amiya Gogoiin 2011. The defeat, however, failed to put him down and he went to contest the2014 LS elections from Dibrugarh as a BJP candidate against Congress' formerUnion Minister Paban Singh Ghatowar, who had retained the seat for five termssince 1991.

However, in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections Rameswar Teli waschosen over Prashanta Phukan despite the latter being the real leader, as hewas tangled in a RS Election controversy.

Teli is known for his ordinary lifestyle and amicablenature. His parents lived in a thatched house in Tipling, however, now he is tryingto upgrade the house so that his parents need not spend a life in hardships.