Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expanded his cabinet on Friday, with 12 legislators taking the oath of office and secrecy as ministers. The ceremony took place at the Jyoti-Bishnu Antarjatik Kala Mandir in Guwahati, where Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya administered the oath. This expansion increases the strength of the council of ministers to 17, including the chief minister.
New Faces in the Cabinet
The newly sworn-in ministers include BJP MLAs Ranoj Pegu, Ashok Singhal, Biswajit Daimary, Ashwini Ray Sarkar, Nandini Devi, and Sushanta Borgohain. Notably, Keshab Mahanta from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), who served in Sarma's previous cabinet, has also been inducted. Other BJP MLAs who took the oath are Bimal Borah, Jayant Mallabaruah, Kaushik Rai, Krishnendu Paul, and Pijush Hazarika. All these individuals had previously served as ministers in the earlier Himanta Sarma government.
Background of the Cabinet Expansion
Earlier, on May 12, four other ministers were sworn in: AGP's Atul Bora, BPF's Charan Boro, and BJP's Ajanta Neog and Rameshwar Teli. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a record 102 seats in the 126-member Assam assembly, with the BJP winning 82 seats. Its allies, AGP and the Bodoland People's Front (BPF), bagged 10 seats each. The cabinet expansion reflects the coalition's strength and the chief minister's strategy to include diverse representation.
