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Four new faces among 12 Assam ministers to take oath tomorrow: CM Himanta Sarma
The induction will take the strength of the council of ministers to 17, with two spots still remaining vacant in the 19-member cabinet.
Four new faces will be among the 12 ministers to be inducted into the Assam cabinet on Friday, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Thursday
The induction will take the strength of the council of ministers to 17, with two spots still remaining vacant in the 19-member cabinet.
Sarma had taken oath along with four ministers as head of the third successive Bharatiya Janata Party-led government on May 12.
“I am pleased to announce that the following honourable members of the Assam legislative assembly will be sworn in as cabinet ministers in the government of Assam on June 5 at 12:45 pm,” the CM posted on X.
The new ministers to be inducted are Ashwini Ray Sarkar, Ashok Singhal, Bimal Borah, Biswajit Daimary, Jayanta Malla Baruah, Kaushik Rai, Keshab Mahanta, Krishnendu Paul, Nilima Devi, Pijush Hazarika, Ranoj Pegu and Susanta Borgohain.
Of them, Ashwini Ray Sarkar, former Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary, Susanta Borgohain and Nilima Devi are the new faces. Prominent among those who have been left out are Chandra Mohan Patowary, who was a minister in the two previous BJP-led governments, and senior BJP leader Prasanta Phukan.
Daimary’s inclusion was expected, though there had been some doubts in the past few days after allegations of corruption in appointments and contracts during his tenure as Assembly Speaker from 2021 to 2026.
Nilima Devi, a first-time MLA from the Mangaldai seat and a senior BJP women leader, is the surprise inclusion in the cabinet. She will be the second woman minister alongside Ajanta Neog, who took oath on May 12.
Of the new ministers, Keshab Mahanta, who is from coalition partner Asom Gana Parishad, will be the second minister from his party in the cabinet after Atul Bora. Charan Bodo, who is from another ruling ally, the Bodoland Peoples’ Front, is the lone representative of his party in the government.
There was speculation that two senior Congress leaders, Pradyut Bordoloi and Bhupen Kumar Borah, who had switched sides to the BJP just days ahead of the election, would be inducted into the ministry. But neither finds mention in the list announced by Sarma.
