By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday expanded his Council of Ministers with the induction of 12 legislators, including four first-time ministers, nearly a month after the NDA returned to power with a sweeping mandate in the Assembly elections.
Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers at a ceremony held at the Jyoti-Bishnu Antarjatik Kala Mandir in Guwahati.
With the latest expansion, the strength of the Assam Council of Ministers rose to 17, including the Chief Minister. Under constitutional provisions, the maximum permissible strength of the ministry in the 126-member Assembly is 19.
The new entrants includes BJP legislators Ashwini Ray Sarkar, Nilima Devi, Sushanta Borgohain and former Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary, all of whom were inducted into the ministry for the first time. Senior Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leader Keshab Mahanta also took oath as a minister.
The other legislators inducted into the Cabinet were Ashok Singhal, Ranoj Pegu, Bimal Borah, Jayanta Malla Baruah, Kaushik Rai, Krishnendu Paul and Pijush Hazarika, all of whom had served as ministers in the previous Himanta Biswa Sarma government.
Prior to the expansion, AGP president Atul Bora, BJP leaders Ajanta Neog and Rameswar Teli, and BPF leader Charan Boro had already been sworn in as ministers alongside the Chief Minister.
The ministry now comprises 13 BJP ministers, two from the AGP and one from the BPF, in addition to Sarma.
The expanded ministry include representatives from different regions and communities of the state, including the Barak Valley, upper Assam and the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).
Among those in the Cabinet are Kaushik Rai and Krishnendu Paul from the Barak Valley, Biswajit Daimary and Charan Boro from the Bodo community, Ranoj Pegu from the Mising community, Ashwini Ray Sarkar from the Koch-Rajbongshi community and Sushanta Borgohain from the Ahom community.
The BJP-led NDA secured 102 of the 126 Assembly seats in the recent elections, with the BJP winning 82 seats and its allies, the AGP and BPF, securing 10 seats each.