Arnab Deka

His Excellency Tan Sri Dato Sri Utama
Arnab Deka
Baron Deka
SUVB SUMP DPBM DUMM DPUU SPDS RSP CSP
His Excellency Tan Sri Dato Sri Utama Arnab Deka Baron Deka; SUVB SUMP DPBM DUMM DPUU SPDS RSP CSP
अर्नब डेका; অর্ণব ডেকা
	Arnab in 2017
Governor of Purvanchal
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 17 March 2023
Monarch	Dhrubajyoti Roy
Rajpramukh	Dhrubajyoti Roy
Chief Minister	Shivangi Roy
Preceded by	Position re-created
	In office; 6 July 2017 – 4 February 2019; as Governor of Brihattar Guwahati
President	Dhrubajyoti Roy; Anoushkaa Patranabish; Dhrubajyoti Roy
Prime Minister	Tanishkaa Patranabish; Dhrubajyoti Roy; Tanishkaa Patranabish
Preceded by	Anoushkaa Patranabish
Succeeded by	Reshmi Hazarika
Minister of External Affairs
	In office; 30 December 2016 – 12 April 2017
President	Sarala Baishya
Prime Minister	Dhrubajyoti Roy
Deputy	Bhargab Jyoti Medhi
Preceded by	Dhrubajyoti Roy
Succeeded by	Abhiraj Kar
President
Gubernatorial offices
Governor of Beltola
	In office; 4 February 2019 – 20 July 2019
President	Dhrubajyoti Roy
Prime Minister	Tanishkaa Patranabish
Preceded by	Sanghita Roy
Succeeded by	Ankurjyoti Thakuria
Governor of Madhya Prant
	In office; 20 July 2019 – 4 September 2019
President	Dhrubajyoti Roy
Prime Minister	Tanishkaa Patranabish
Preceded by	Anirban Phatowali
Succeeded by	Reshmi Hazarika
Prime Minister
Ministerial offices
Minister of Culture
	In office; 6 December 2015 – 11 April 2016
Prime Minister	Sarala Baishya
Deputy	Anirban Phatowali
Preceded by	Dhrubajyoti Roy
Succeeded by	Sarala Baishya
Minister of State for Finance
	In office; 11 April 2016 – 10 July 2016
Prime Minister	Dhrubajyoti Roy
Preceded by	Abhiraj Kar
Succeeded by	Bhargab Jyoti Medhi
Minister of State for Culture
	In office; 2 October 2016 – 30 December 2016
Prime Minister	Dhrubajyoti Roy
Preceded by	Manoj Chetry
Succeeded by	Bishakha Das
Minister of Law and Justice
	In office; 2 September 2019 – 29 September 2019
Prime Minister	Tanishkaa Patranabish
Preceded by	Bhargab Jyoti Medhi
Succeeded by	Asmi Patranabis
	In office; 15 October 2019 – 8 November 2019
Preceded by	Anirban Phatowali
Succeeded by	Asmi Patranabis
	In office; 16 November 2019 – 9 December 2019
Preceded by	Asmi Patranabis
Succeeded by	Nishwan Baidantic
	In office; 10 January 2020 – 3 March 2020
Preceded by	Bishnu Chetry
Succeeded by	Sampriti Paul
Minister of Human Resource Development
	In office; 2 September 2019 – 15 October 2019
Prime Minister	Tanishkaa Patranabish
Preceded by	Ankurjyoti Thakuria
Succeeded by	Mridul Amin
Minister of Provincial Affairs
	In office; 9 December 2019 – 3 March 2020
Prime Minister	Tanishkaa Patranabish
Preceded by	Asmi Patranabis
Minister of Economical and Statistical Development
	In office; 9 December 2019 – 10 January 2020
Prime Minister	Tanishkaa Patranabish
Preceded by	Arnab Sil
Succeeded by	Anoushkaa Patranabish
Minister of National Defence
	In office; 3 March 2020 – 29 March 2020
Prime Minister	Anoushkaa Patranabish; Tanishkaa Patranabish
Preceded by	Abhiraj Kar
Succeeded by	Arnab Sil
	In office; 9 June 2020 – 17 June 2020
Prime Minister	Princess Anoushkaa
Preceded by	Abhiraj Kar
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs
	In office; 29 March 2020 – 30 April 2020
Prime Minister	Tanishkaa Patranabish
Preceded by	Anirban Phatowali
	In office; 13 May 2020 – 8 June 2020
President	Tanishkaa Patranabish
Succeeded by	Sampriti Paul
Coordinating Minister of National Development and Social Policies
	In office; 17 June 2020 – 28 January 2021
Prime Minister	Princess Anoushkaa
Minister of National Development
	In office; 28 January 2021 – 1 March 2021
Prime Minister	Ștefan Marius Snagoveanu
	In office; 31 July 2022 – 12 November 2022
Prime Minister	Farhaz Hazarika
Preceded by	Charles Burgardt
Succeeded by	Matthew Tonna
Personal details
Born	Arnab Deka; 18 November 2002 (age 20); India
Citizenship	India; Vishwamitra;
Political party	National People's Congress
Relations	Arpan Deka (brother)
Occupation	Politician
Religion	Hindu
Ethnicity	Assamese
Awards	See list

His Excellency Tan Sri Dato Sri Utama Arnab Deka, SUVB, SUMP, DPBM, DUMM, DPUU, SPDS, RSP, CSP (born on 18 November 2002) is a senior Vishwamitran politician. He is a former Minister of External Affairs, Minister of Defence and Minister of National Development. He has also served as governors of several states becoming the longest-serving Governor of Purvanchal. He is currently again serving as the Governor of Purvanchal since 17 March 2023.

Personal life

Arnab Deka was born on 18 November 2022 in the Indian state of Assam and is the oldest of the two sons of his parents. He is an older brother of Arpan Deka, who is a former parliamentarian and minister in Vishwamitra. He attended the same school with Rashtradhyaksh Dhrubajyoti Roy between 2015 and 2018 and were good friends. He is currently pursuing his bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Silchar.

Micronational career

Arnab Deka was introduced to the concept of micronationalism by his schoolmate Dhrubajyoti Roy in early 2015. He joined Vishwamitra, then known as the Children's Group, in May the same year and was soon assigned with duties in the nation. He was appointed as the Chief Minister of Uttar Guwahati on 10 July 2015 and served as the state's head of government until the dissolution of the position of the chief ministers of states by the government headed by Sarala Baishya in December the same year. He was inducted to the union cabinet headed by Prime Minister Sarala Baishya as the Minister of Culture on 6 December 2015 and remained in the position until 11 April 2016.

Following Dhrubajyoti Roy's becoming the nation's Prime Minister for the third time in April 2016, he was appointed as Minister of State for Finance on 11 April and remained in office until his resignation on 10 July 2016. His appointed as a minister of state, which is a junior minister in the ministry, after his stint as a cabinet minister was viewed as a reason of displeasure and discontent which eventually led to his resignation from the union cabinet. Soon after his resignation from the union cabinet, he was appointed as the Chief Minister of Uttar Guwahati for a second term on 11 July 2016 and remained until his reinduction in the union cabinet on 2 October 2016. He was appointed as Minister of State for Culture in the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Dhrubajyoti Roy.

In December 2016, the Secular Party and Independent Party coalition was re-elected to power with him being elected to the parliament for the third time. He was then appointed as the Minister of External Affairs. One of the most important events of his tenure as external affairs minister shall be the extension of recognition to all UN member states on 1 January 2017, just two days after his appointment. Alongside being the External Affairs Minister, he also served as Minister of Sanitation and Cleanliness Campaign until 17 February 2017 when he was given the additional responsibility of the Minister of Social Justice. He ceased to be a minister on 12 April 2017 following the resignation of the union cabinet.

After months of remaining away from the political spectrum, he was appointed as the Governor of Brihattar Guwahati (now Purvanchal) on 5 July 2017 by President Dhrubajyoti Roy and was reappointed for a second term on 24 April 2018. His tenure as governor of the state lasted for a year and 214 days thereby making him the longest serving governor. He relinquished his duties as the Governor of Brihattar Guwahati on 4 February 2019 following his transfer and subsequent appointed as Governor of Beltola, a position which he held until 20 July 2019. He was transferred again on 20 July 2019 and appointed as the Governor of Madhya Guwahati. He completed his tenure as governor on 2 September 2019.

Soon after his retirement as governor, he made a political return after more than two years on 2 September 2019 with his appointed as Minister of Human Resource Development in the cabinet of Tanishkaa Patranabish. In a cabinet reshuffle which took place later the same month, he was appointed as Miniter of Sanitation and Public Health. He was elected to the parliament in a by-election held on 3 October. On 15 October, he was appointed as the Minister of Law and Justice and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. In December 2019, he was appointed Minister of Economic and Statistical Development and also as Minister of Provincial Affairs. In January 2020, he resumed the charge of the Minister of Law and Justice.

In the caretaker cabinet of Prime Minister Anoushkaa Patranabish formed on 3 March 2020, he was appointed as the Minister of Defence. He was reappointed to the same position on 22 March 2020 after the appointment of Prime Minister Tanishkaa Patranabish. He assumed the charge of the Ministry of Commonwealth Affairs and Minister of National Development in April 2020.

Consequent to Vishwamitra's transition to a monarchy on June 2020, he was appointed to the new cabinet under Prime Minister Anoushkaa Patranabish as the Minister of Defence. On 17 June 2020, he was appointed as the Coordinating Minister of National Development and Social Policies and the Minister of Infrastructural Development. He was inducted to the union cabinet of Prime Minister Ștefan Marius Snagoveanu on 28 January 2021 as the Minister of National Development.

Despite being a prominent figure in the national politics, he unsuccessfully contested the March 2021 general election against Cristian Dobrev who later became the Minister of Finance. He returned to the parliament after regaining his seat in the November 2021 general election. He also served as a member of the 14th Lok Sabha representing Noonmati constituency of the state of Madhya Prant.

In a reshuffle of the union cabinet on 31 July 2022, he was appointed as a cabinet minister in the Third Farhaz Hazarika ministry as the Minister of National Development and Cabinet Affairs. He remained as a member until being defeated in the 2022 general election.

On 17 March 2023, he was re-appointed as the Governor of Purvanchal.

Titles, styles and honours

Titles

Baron (1 August 2021; formerly The Baron Deka)

Honours

Friends Society:
- Recipient of the Medal "For Services to National Leader II" (30 April 2020)
- Recipient of the Investiture Medal of National Leader III (3 May 2020)

Vishwamitra:
- Grand Cordon of the Most Excellent Royal Vishwamitran Order of Merit (SUVB) – Tan Sri (11 January 2023)
- Recipient 2nd Class of the Distinguished and Long Service Medal (SPDS) (15 April 2022)
- Recipient of the National Service Medal (RSP) (15 April 2022)
- Recipient of the Civil Service Medal (CSP) (15 April 2022)
- Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of the First Anniversary of the Vishwamitran Monarchy (8 June 2021)
- Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of the Crystal Jubilee of the Foundation of Vishwamitra (15 April 2022)
- Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of the 21st Birthday of Rashtradhyaksh Dhrubajyoti Roy (11 January 2023)

Former honours

Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the Vishwamitra (1 January 2021 – 24 October 2022)
Grand Commander of the Most Illustrious Royal Order of the Crown of Vishwamitra (15 April – 24 October 2022)
Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of Loyalty to the Royal Family of Vishwamitra (1 August – 24 October 2022)

State honours

Beltola:
- Commander First Class of the Most Faithful Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Beltola (DPBM) – Dato Vijaya (17 April 2023)

Madhya Prant:
- Knight Companion of the Most Blessed Order of the Crown of Madhya Prant (DUMM) – Dato Indra (7 March 2023)

Purvanchal:
- Grand Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Crown of Purvanchal (SUMP) – Dato Sri Utama (2 January 2023)

Uttaranchal:
- Grand Commander of the Most Honourable Order of Uttaranchal (DPUU) (4 May 2023)

Order of wear

Ribbon bars of the orders and decorations that are worn regularly by Baron Shri Arnab Deka are noted in accordance with customary Vishwamitran conventions applicable to the occasion, the location and to the form of dress worn. The ribbon bars are worn according to the protocol and the precedence of the wear as issued by the Chancellery of the orders.