GUWAHATI, June 5: The strength of the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Assam Cabinet has gone up to 17 ministers with the induction of 12 more legislators as ministers on Friday.
Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers at the swearing-in ceremony at the Jyoti-Bishnu Antarjatik Kala Mandir here.
Four among the 12 inductees in the Sarma-led Cabinet are new faces, comprising Nilima Devi, MLA from Mangaldai Assembly constituency in Darrang district; Thowra MLA Sushanta Borgohain; Golakganj MLA, Ashwini Ray Sarkar besides former Assam Assembly Speaker, Biswajit Daimary.
The other MLAs inducted in the Cabinet include former ministers, Ashok Singhal, Bimal Borah, Jayanta Malla Baruah, Kaushik Rai, Keshab Mahanta, Krishnendu Paul, Pijush Hazarika and Ranoj Pegu.
Under constitutional provisions, the maximum permissible strength of the ministry in the 126-member Assam Legislative Assembly is 19.
It may be recalled that following NDA’s emphatic victory in the Assam Assembly elections, Himanta Biswa Sarma had, on May 12, taken oath as Assam chief minister for the second consecutive term, during a ceremony here attended by the Prime Minister, Union home minister and several other Union ministers and chief ministers of the Northeast and other NDA-ruled states of the country.
Rameshwar Teli, Atul Bora, Charan Boro and Ajanta Neog also took the oath of office as Cabinet ministers in the Sarma-led NDA government on that day.
Notably, 17 ministers in the Assam Cabinet are from BJP, two are from ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), while one minister is from Bodoland People’s Front (BPF).
“Today, the expanded Team Assam took oath of office and secrecy to serve the people of Assam. It’s a balanced team which represents the aspirations of all sections of people and their experience and wisdom will further strengthen our resolve of building a Viksit Assam,’ chief minister Sarma stated on social media.
