Assam cabinet expansion, two new ministers sworn in

Sanjay Kishan and Jogen Mohan were on Saturday sworn in as ministers in Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal's ministry.

Governor Jagdish Mukhi administered the oath of office and secrecy to the two new ministers at a simple ceremony in the Darbar Hall of the Raj Bhawan here.

Both Mohan and Kishan were sworn in as ministers of state with independent charge.

Among those present on the occasion were the chief minister, Finance and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, Culture Minister Naba Kumar Doley, BJP president Ranjeet Dass and MPs Queen Oja and Kamakhya Prasad Tasa.

The swearing-in ceremony was conducted by Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna.

Both Kishan and Mohan are first time MLAs and represent Tinsukia and Mahmora assembly constituencies respectively.

While Kishan hails from the tea tribe community, Mohan represents the Ahom community.

They replace Pallab Lochan Das, from the tea community, and Tapan Gogoi, an Ahom, who were elected to the Lok Sabha from Tezpur and Jorhat parliamentary constituencies respectively.

With this the strength of the ministry has increased to 18, including the chief minister, with 12 from the BJP and three each from the alliance partners Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodo People's Front (BPF).