GUWAHATI:
In a cabinet expansion, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will include two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs as ministers on June 9.
Two BJP MLAs – Nandita Gorlosa, the legislator of Haflong constituency and Jayanta Mallah Baruah, who represents the Nalbari constituency – will be included in the cabinet. The oath-taking ceremony of the ministers will be held at Srimanta Sankardev International Auditorium at around 3 pm. Jayanta Malla Barua is presently the political secretary of the chief minister.
No one will be dropped among the existing ministers, sources said.
Earlier, Sarma said that one MLA from two hill districts – Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao – will be inducted into his cabinet.
This will be the first cabinet expansion of the Sarma-led cabinet.
Sarma led 14-member cabinet was sworn in as the chief minister of the state on May 10, 2021. Presently, the state cabinet included 11 ministers from BJP, 2 from alliance partner Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and 1 from UPPL (United People’s Party Liberal). Sarma has still the liberty to fill up a maximum of four berths in the cabinet.
Article 164(1A) of the Constitution stipulates that the size of the council of ministers in the state should not exceed 15 per cent of the total strength of the Assembly. With 126 members in the Assembly, Assam can have a maximum of 18 ministers including the chief minister.