GUWAHATI: With approximately 15 months remaining before Assam heads to elections, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expanded his ministry on Saturday by appointing four BJP MLAs as ministers.
The legislators – Prasanta Phukan, Kaushik Rai, Krishnendu Paul, and Rupesh Goala – were sworn in by Governor Laxman Prasad Acharya. The oath of office and secrecy was administered during a ceremony attended by the Chief Minister and his ministerial colleagues.
Phukan, aged 70, is a BJP veteran who has served as the MLA for Dibrugarh since 2006. Goala, aged 46, is a former student leader from the "tea tribe" community. He joined the BJP ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections, successfully contested from the Doom Dooma constituency, and became an MLA for the first time. Both Dibrugarh and Doom Dooma are located in Upper Assam.
Paul and Rai hail from Southern Assam’s Barak Valley. Paul, aged 51, represents the Patharkandi seat in Sribhumi district and is a two-time MLA. Rai, aged 50, is serving his first term as an MLA, representing the Lakhipur constituency in Cachar district.
"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," Chief Minister Sarma posted on X.
As part of the reshuffle, Sarma dropped Labour and Tea Tribe Welfare Minister Sanjay Kishan, appointing him as Chairman of the Assam Food and Civil Supplies Corporation. Congratulating Kishan, Sarma wrote, "Thank you for your exceptional work and best wishes for serving the people of Assam in your new role as Chairman of Assam Food and Civil Supplies Corporation."
The previous cabinet expansion under Sarma took place in 2022 when BJP legislators Nandita Garlosa and Jayanta Malla Baruah were inducted as ministers.
In the 126-member Assam Assembly, the maximum number of ministers allowed is 19. The BJP heads the three-party NDA government in the state, which holds a majority with 84 MLAs. The other coalition partners are the Asom Gana Parishad and the United People's Party Liberal.