Taditui Rangkau Zeliang (born 21 February 1952) is an Indian politician who is 4th serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Nagaland under Neiphiu Rio alongside Yanthungo Patton. He has served twice as the Chief Minister of Nagaland, from May 2014 to February 2017 and from July 2017 to March 2018. A leader of the Naga People's Front, T. R. Zeliang previously served as a Member of Parliament, representing Nagaland in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. He served as the Chairman of United Democratic Alliance (Nagaland) and was former leader of the NPF Legislature Party and former Leader of Opposition in Nagaland Legislative Assembly. He represents the Peren Assembly constituency in Nagaland Legislative Assembly since 2008.
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Early life and education
T. R. Zeliang was born to Rangleu Zeliang on 21 February 1952 to a Zeliang Naga family of Mbaupungwa village under Peren district. He received his early education and matriculated from Don Bosco High School in Dibrugarh, Assam and served as the President of Zeliangrong Students Union, General Secretary of Zeliangrong Action Committee and Zeliangrong Youth Organisation while in college. He later entered politics and became the President of Peren District Youth Congress of the Indian National Congress.
Political career
Zeliang contested the 1982 and 1987 Nagaland Assembly elections unsuccessfully from 6 Tening Assembly Constituency. He then won from Tening four times in a row, beginning with the elections of 1989 as a candidate of the Naga People's Council and subsequently in 1993, 1998 and 2003 as a candidate of the Indian National Congress. He served as Minister of State for Information and Tourism during 1989–90 and as Minister of State for Relief & Rehabilitation from 1994 to 1998. During 1998 – 2003, he was the Minister for Environment and Forests and Geology and Mining under the Ministry of S C Jamir. He formed Nagaland Congress in 2003 and later merged it into Naga People's Front (NPF). From 2004 to 2008, he was a Member of Parliament to the Rajya Sabha from Nagaland. Returning to State politics in 2008, he was Minister for Planning, Geology and Mining, Animal Husbandry and Parliamentary Affairs under the Ministry of Neiphiu Rio. He contested State elections 9 times, out of which he lost the first two elections and won the remaining 7. He won the assembly elections of 2008, 2013 and 2018 from Peren.
Tenure as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister
Chief Minister of Nagaland
T. R. Zeliang was the Chief Minister of Nagaland from May 2014 to February 2017 and from July 2017 to March 2018 as 19th Chief Minister of Nagaland. With 26 legislators in a House of 60, T.R. Zeliang was the legislature leader of the Naga Peoples' Front, the single largest Party in Nagaland. In 2022 T.R. Zeliang became the Chairman of United Democratic Alliance (Nagaland) in the opposition less Government of Nagaland.
Deputy Chief Minister of Nagaland
In 2023, he was sworn in as the deputy chief minister along with BJP's Yanthungo Patton.