English
English
English
Assam cabinet expansion tomorrow
Guwahati: The Assam government led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is set to undergo a major Cabinet expansion on Friday, June 5, with 12 legislators scheduled to take oath as ministers.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held at 12:45 PM, marking the first major expansion of the ministry since the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a resounding victory in the recent Assembly elections.
Announcing the development on social media, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the selected Members of the Assam Legislative Assembly (MLAs) would join the Council of Ministers on June 5.
Among the prominent names set to be inducted are four new faces from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - Ashwini Ray Sarkar, Nilima Devi, Sushanta Borgohain and Biswajit Daimary.
Daimary previously served as the Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly since 2021. Political observers view their inclusion as an effort to balance administrative experience with fresh leadership in the state government.
Expansion Follows NDA's Historic Electoral Mandate
The Cabinet expansion comes just weeks after the NDA registered a landslide victory in the Assam Assembly elections. The BJP-led alliance, comprising the BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People's Front (BPF), won 102 of the state's 126 Assembly seats.
The BJP emerged as the dominant force with 82 seats, while AGP and BPF secured 10 seats each. In the opposition camp, the Congress won 19 seats, followed by Raijor Dal with two seats. The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) secured two constituencies, while the Trinamool Congress won one seat.
Assembly Oath Ceremony Showcased Assam's Linguistic Diversity
The newly constituted Assam Assembly also drew attention for its celebration of the state's rich linguistic heritage. During the swearing-in ceremony held on May 21, several MLAs chose to take their oath in indigenous languages such as Karbi, Rabha and Koch-Rajbongshi, despite these languages not being included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
Pro-tem Speaker Chandra Mohan Patowary permitted legislators to take the oath in their preferred language, provided they submitted a written copy if the language was not among the Constitution's 22 officially recognised languages.
In addition to indigenous languages, legislators took their oath in Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Sanskrit, Hindi and English, highlighting Assam's cultural and linguistic diversity.
