Assam's longest-serving woman MLA, tea tribe leader among 4 ministers sworn into Himanta cabinet

Guwahati: Assam's longest-serving woman legislator, a veteran tea tribe leader, and senior representatives of allies AGP and BPF were among the four ministers sworn into the new cabinet on Tuesday alongside Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, as the BJP-led NDA government began its third consecutive term in the state.

Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya administered the oath of office and secrecy to BJP leaders Ajanta Neog and Rameswar Teli, along with Atul Bora of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Charan Boro of the Bodoland People's Front (BPF).

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers, and chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of NDA-ruled states. Portfolios for the ministers are yet to be announced.

Except for Teli, the other three ministers were also part of the previous NDA government in Assam.

Ajanta Neog: A six-time MLA from Golaghat, Neog is the state's longest-serving woman legislator, representing the constituency continuously since 2001. She also became the state's first and only woman finance minister after assuming the portfolio in 2021.

Previously a Congress leader and minister in the Tarun Gogoi-led governments, 62-year-old Neog joined the BJP in 2020 and retained her seat in a bypoll. Her husband, former Congress minister Nagen Neog, was killed in a militant attack in 1996.

Rameswar Teli: A prominent tea tribe leader, Teli is making his debut in the state cabinet after serving as a Union minister of state in the Narendra Modi government. Associated with politics since his student days, he first entered the assembly in 2001 from Duliajan constituency and retained the seat in 2006.

After losing the 2011 Assembly election, he shifted to national politics, winning the Dibrugarh Lok Sabha seat in 2014 and retaining it in 2019. He has also served as a Rajya Sabha MP. Teli, 55, returned to the assembly this year from Duliajan.

Atul Bora: AGP president Bora has been leading the regional party since 2014. A former president of the All Assam Students' Union, he was among the leaders shaped by the anti-foreigners Assam Agitation of 1979-85.

A five-time MLA, Bora first entered the assembly in 1996 from Golaghat before shifting to Bokakhat in 2016, a seat he has retained for three straight terms. The 66-year-old leader held key portfolios such as Agriculture, Border Areas Development and Assam Accord Implementation in the previous NDA governments.

Charan Boro: Boro, a third-term MLA from Mazbat in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), is the lone minister in the new cabinet from lower Assam.

The 46-year-old BPF leader had joined the previous NDA cabinet during its last expansion in October last year after the party formally allied with the BJP-led coalition following its strong performance in the BTR council elections. In the earlier government, he handled the Transport Department among other responsibilities.