From Our Correspondent
GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday appointed 21 parliamentary secretaries to tackle his problem of more than sufficient number of Congress legislators in the State Assembly.
Out of the 21 parliamentary secretaries, 19 are from ruling Congress and two from its long-time ally Bodoland People’s Front (BPF). The Congress has 78 MLAs in the 126-member Assam Assembly.
As per the amended provision of the Constitution, Assam with a 126-member Assembly can have a ministry of maximum 19 members including the chief minister.
So, after coming back to power with 78 Congress MLAs in the last Assembly election of 2011 Gogoi has been exploring ways to keep his folk happy as he could accommodate only 17 Congress MLAs in the ministry while leaving one ministerial berth to long-time ally BPF.
To overcome this problem of plenty Gogoi has appointed 21 parliamentary secretaries from among senior MLAs who will be attached with various cabinet ministers and departments.
The 19 Congress MLAs who have been appointed parliamentary secretaries include : Rajendra Prasad Singh, Raju Sahu, Jibontara Ghatowar, Pradan Baruah, Sarat Saikia, Jonjonali Baruah, Sukur Ali Ahmed, Chandan Kr. Sarkar, Bidya Singh Engleng, Monilal Gowala, Mansingh Rongpi, Abu Taher Bepari, Ilias Ali, Bibekananda Dalai, Rana Goswami, Bhupen Kr. Bora, Sumitra Doley Patir, Bolin Chetia, Rekibuddin Ahmed.
The two from BPF are: Maneswor Brahma and Rakeswor Brahma.
