Assam Cabinet Expansion Himanta Sarma New Ministers

Twelve new ministers took the oath of office in Assam Friday as Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma carried out his Cabinet expansion, taking the strength of his new ministry to 17.

The Himanta Cabinet has a few new faces, even as it continues to accommodate prominent former Congress leaders who had followed Sarma into the BJP some years ago.

The senior-most among these ex-Congress leaders in the Himanta ministry 2.0 is Ajanta Neog, who had been sworn in with Sarma last month.

Pijush Hazarika and Jayanta Malla Baruah, both Sarma loyalists who were prominent members of his last ministry, were inducted into the Council of Ministers Friday. Both of them were first-time MLAs when they quit the Congress and joined the BJP soon after Sarma’s switch to the BJP in 2015, with both going on to become Cabinet ministers.

One of the entrants into the Council of Ministers, Sushanta Borgohain, has a similar trajectory. He too was a first-time MLA with the Congress when Sarma left it, but he went on to remain with the party for another six years. In 2021, soon after he was elected on a Congress ticket, he defected to the BJP. He was subsequently elected from the same seat on a BJP ticket later that year.

One of the new faces in the ministry is Biswajit Daimary, who was the Speaker in the previous Assembly. Daimary is the BJP’s senior-most leader from the Bodo community, which is Assam’s single largest tribal group. A former Rajya Sabha MP and a long-time member of the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), he had joined the BJP in 2020, which gave the party a prominent face in the Bodoland region.

Ranoj Pegu, who was the Minister of Education and Welfare of Plain Tribes & Backward Classes (non-BTC) in the previous Himanta-led government, has also been made a minister now. A former Chief Executive Member of the Mising Autonomous Council, Pegu is a prominent leader from the Mising community, another prominent tribal community in the state.

However, the expanded Himanta ministry does not have representation from the Karbi and Dimasa tribes from the large hill districts of Central Assam.

It includes two ministers from Southern Assam’s Barak Valley, Krishnendu Paul and Kaushik Rai, who were both ministers in the last BJP government. Ashwini Roy Sarkar, a leader from the Koch Rajbongshi community from Dhubri district, is a new entrant into the ministry. The other new Cabinet face, who was sworn in last month, is one of the BJP’s senior-most leaders in the state, Rameshwar Teli, a tea-tribe leader who had previously been

Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries and then handled the Petroleum and Natural Gas portfolio in the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre.

Yet another new face in the Himanta Cabinet is first time MLA Nilima Devi, who has been elected from the Mangaldai seat. The president of the Assam Pradesh BJP Mahila Morcha, Nilima, and Ajanta Neog are the only women in the Cabinet.

Other prominent faces from the previous Himanta ministry who were sworn in Friday include senior Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leader Keshab Mahanta, who has joined his party colleague Atul Bora in the Cabinet. They also include Ashok Singhal, a senior BJP leader and a prominent member of the last ministry, who also courted controversies for his polarising posts on social media.

Charan Boro, the BPF’s lone minister, had been sworn in last month with Sarma.

The 17-member Himanta Cabinet has thus 13 BJP ministers with the party’s allies AGP and BPF having two ministers and one, respectively.

Sukrita Baruah is a Principal Correspondent for The Indian Express, based in Guwahati. From this strategic hub, she provides comprehensive, ground-level coverage of India's North East, a region characterized by its complex ethnic diversity, geopolitical significance, and unique developmental challenges. Expertise and Experience Ethnic & Social Dynamics: Deep-dive coverage of regional conflicts (such as the crisis in Manipur) and peace-building efforts. Border & Geopolitics: Tracking developments along India’s international borders and their impact on local communities. Governance & Policy: Reporting on state elections, tribal council decisions, and the implementation of central schemes in the North East. Specialized Education Background: Prior to her current role, Sukrita was a dedicated Education Correspondent for The Indian Express in Delhi. This experience provided her with a sharp analytical lens for: Policy Analysis: Evaluating the National Education Policy (NEP) and university-level reforms. Student Affairs: Covering high-stakes stories regarding campus politics, national entrance exams, and the challenges within the primary and secondary education sectors. ... Read More