GUWAHATI, May 21: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took oath as an MLA on the first day of the 16th Assam Legislative Assembly here on Thursday.
Pro-tem Speaker Chandra Mohan Patowary administered the oath to Sarma who took the oath in Assamese.
“Truly humbled to take oath as a Member of the Assam Legislative Assembly for the sixth consecutive term as a representative of the people of Jalukbari. It is an honour to serve in this august House. I look forward to healthy deliberations with my fellow MLAs,” the chief minister later stated on social media.
Subsequently, all the other newly-elected MLAS took oath in the languages of their choice (Assamese, Bengali, Bodo and Sanskrit) in the Assembly.
“All the members can take an oath in any recognised language they wish to. They can submit their oath copies to the Assembly office,” Pro-tem Speaker Patowary earlier said.
Notably, the 16th Assam Legislative Assembly (ALA) will have sessions across four working days.
Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya will address the new members of the Assembly on Friday.
It may be recalled that NDA returned to power in Assam with a dominant performance in the recently-concluded Assembly elections. The alliance — comprising the BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) — secured 102 seats in the 126-member House.
BJP emerged with 82 seats, while allies AGP and BPF won 10 seats each.
On the other hand, the Opposition Congress secured 19 seats, while Raijor Dal won two seats. The AIUDF and Trinamool Congress, which had contested the elections independently, managed to win two seats and one seat respectively.
