Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday took oath as the Assam chief minister for a second consecutive term in Guwahati.
The 57-year-old was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya at a ceremony held at the Khanapara Veterinary Ground in Guwahati.
4 new ministers in Assam
Four other ministers, two from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rameshwar Teli and Ajanta Neog, and one each from Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF), Atul Bora and Charan Boro, also took oath.
Teli is a former union minister and Neog the finance minister in the previous government. Bora is the president of AGP and a cabinet minister in the previous BJP-led governments. Boro was also part of the previous government.
The event was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, among other ministers in the cabinet.
Big mandate to BJP in Assam
On May 4, BJP had won the assembly election in a landslide victory winning 82 of the 126 seats in the state. Its allies AGP and BPF had bagged 10 seats each taking their combined tally to 102 seats.
In contrast, Congress won 19 seats and its alliance partner Raijor Dal secured 2 seats. All India United Democratic Front and Trinamool Congress, who were not part of any alliance, had won 2 and 1 seats respectively.
On Sunday, the newly elected MLAs of BJP and its allies had selected Sarma as their leader following which he had staked claim to form the government. The same evening, the Governor had appointed him as the chief minister vide a notification issued by the political department.
BJP had first formed a government in Assam in 2016 by ending 15 years of Congress rule. The party returned to power again in 2021. In both elections, BJP had secured 60 seats each and had formed governments with the support of its allies.
Sarma had assumed the chief minister’s post on May 10, 2021 as the second successive head of the BJP-led government in Assam after completion of a five-year-tenure by his predecessor Sarbananda Sonowal.