Ending months of speculation, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has finally announced the expansion of his cabinet. Two new ministers are going to be added to the 14-member ministry tomorrow, according to a press release by the govt of Assam.
The two new faces in the Assam govt are BJP MLAs Jayanta Malla Baruah and Nandita Gorlosa, who will take oath tomorrow in Guwahati. The swearing in ceremony will be held at Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati at 3 PM on 9th June, according to the press release.
Jayanta Malla Baruah is currently working as the political secretary of the Chief Minister, and he is an MLA from Nalbari assembly constituency. He was originally in Congress, and was elected to the assembly in 2011 on a Congress ticket. In 2015, he left Congress and joined BJP, at a time when several senior leaders and MLAs of Congress had left the party to join BJP, including Himanta Biswa Sarma. While he was denied a ticket in the 2016 elections, he contested and won from Nalbari in 2011 elections.
Nandita Gorlosa is a first time MLA from Haflong constituency, who is also an Executive Member of North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council, Dima Hasao.
Earlier today CM Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that the cabinet will be expanded tomorrow, which he had confirmed in his speeches last week. “Not one but two ministers will be included at a function in Guwahati tomorrow. Both the ministers will be from BJP,” he had said.
The current Assam Cabinet includes 11 ministers from BJP, 2 from AGP (Asom Gana Parishad) and one from UPPL (United People’s Party Liberal). While the CM had the liberty to add 4 more members to the ministry as per the constitution, he has decided to add only two ministers during this expansion.
