Guwahati, Dec 7: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday expanded his cabinet with four BJP MLAs sworn in as ministers.
Governor Laxman Prasad Acharya administered the oath of office to the four new ministers – Prasanta Phookan, Kaushik Rai, Krishnendu Paul, and Rupesh Goala at the Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra here.
The chief minister and members of his cabinet were present on the occasion.
”Congratulations to all my colleagues who have taken oath today. Looking forward to working with them to fulfil Adarniya Shri @narendramodi ji’s vision of a Viksit Assam,” Sarma posted on X.
He now heads a 19-member council of ministers.
The induction of the four new ministers emphasises the government’s commitment to strengthening the administration and ensuring effective governance, Sarma later told reporters.
”There was a requirement of more hands in the ministry and with their induction, the Council of Ministers will be strengthened and we will be able to dedicate ourselves more for the development of Assam,” he said.
The chief minister said that due to the number of ministers being less earlier, ”we were not able to give guardian ministers to all the districts but now with the induction of the new ministers, we can do justice to all the departments and serve all sections of people”.
In 2021, Sarma appointed ‘guardian ministers’ for districts, who will look after various government schemes and resolve the issues related to them.
Of the new ministers, Phukan is a four-time MLA from Dibrugarh, Paul is a two-time legislator from Patharkandi, while Rai and Goala are first-time MLAs from Lakhipur and Doom Dooma respectively.
Phukan and Goala represent the Upper Assam tea districts of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia respectively while Paul and Rai are from the two Barak Valley districts of Sribhumi (formerly Karimganj) and Cachar.
Tea Welfare and Labour Minister Sanjay Kishan, who represents the Tinsukia constituency, resigned from office on Thursday, to pave the way for Goala with both representing the tea tribe community.
Kishan has since been appointed as the Chairman of the Assam Food and Civil Supplies department.
Parimal Suklabaidya had resigned from the Himanta Biswa Sarma cabinet after he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Silchar (SC) constituency earlier this year.
All the new ministers thanked the chief minister for including them in his ministry.
They also pledged to serve the people and work for the development of the state.
The ministers are yet to be allocated their portfolios with the chief minister likely to reshuffle and redistribute the departments among the 19 ministers.
Seventy-year-old Phookan is a BJP veteran and has represented Dibrugarh constituency for four consecutive terms since 2006.
Goala, a former student leader, joined the BJP prior to the 2021 assembly elections.
The 46-year-old contested and won from Doom Dooma constituency in Tinsukia district in his maiden outing at the hustings.
From Barak Valley, 50-year-old first-time MLA Kaushik Rai and his party colleague 51-year-old Krishnendu Paul have become ministers.
Sarma heads the NDA alliance government in the state with two Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) ministers Atul Bora and Keshav Mahanta and United Peoples’ Party, Liberal (UPPL) U G Brahma members of his cabinet.
The ruling NDA has 84 members in the 126-member state assembly.
The chief minister and 14 other ministers were sworn in on May 10, 2021.
Sarma expanded his ministry on June 9, 2022, with the induction of two BJP legislators Nandita Garlosa and Jayanta Malla Baruah as ministers. (PTI)
