Gyan Singh Sohanpal

Who is Gyan Singh Sohanpal?

Gyan Singh Sohanpal is an Indian politician affiliated with the Indian National Congress and the current Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. He was sworn in as the speaker by Governor M. K. Narayanan on May 18, 2011. He is affectionately known as Chacha in his constituency of Kharagpur Sadar. At 86, he is the most senior Member of the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal. He contested his first election in 1962 and became a minister in 1969 in Ajoy Mukherjee’s cabinet, taking charge of Small Industries and Jails. In Siddhartha Shankar Ray’s cabinet, he was the Minister for Transport, Jail and Parliamentary Affairs. He has represented Khragpur since 1982 and in the most recent election in 2011, he defeated Anil Kumar Das of the CPI by over 32,000 votes.