Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said he will expand the cabinet on December 7 by inducting four ministers.
“Happy to share that the following colleagues will be sworn in as ministers in our cabinet on 7th December at 12 PM.
“(They are) 1. Shri Prasanta Phookan, MLA 2. Shri Kaushik Rai, MLA 3. Shri Krishnendu Paul, MLA 4. Shri Rupesh Goala, MLA. My best wishes to each of them!” Sarma wrote on X.
All of them are BJP legislators with two - Kaushik Rai and Rupesh Goala - being first-time MLAs.
The expansion will increase the strength of the council of ministers to 20.
The Assam assembly has a total strength of 126 MLAs, and as such, 19 ministers can function at a time.
Meanwhile, Tea Welfare and Labour Minister Sanjoy Kishan resigned from office, according to an official.
Out of the new ministers to be inducted, Sarma has selected two of them from the tea belt constituencies of Dibrugarh and Doom Dooma in Upper Assam, while the two others are from the Barak Valley constituencies of Lakhipur and Patharkandi.
Phookan, 70, is a BJP veteran and has represented the Dibrugarh constituency for four consecutive terms since 2006.
Goala, a former student leader belonging to the tea tribe, had joined the BJP prior to the 2021 assembly elections.
The 46-year-old was given the party's ticket from Doom Dooma constituency in Tinsukia district, and emerged winner in his maiden outing at the hustings.
In the Barak Valley constituency of Lakhipur in Cachar district, 50-year-old first- time MLA Kaushik Rai will get a ministerial berth along with his party colleague Krishnendu Paul (51) from Patharkandi in Karimganj.
Paul is representing Patharkandi in the state assembly for the second consecutive term since 2016.
Sarma heads an NDA alliance government in Assam. The ruling coalition has 84 members in the 126-member assembly.
He had expanded his ministry on June 9, 2022 with the induction of two BJP legislators - Nandita Garlosa and Jayanta Malla Baruah - as cabinet ministers.