 "Assam Governor PB Acharya administers the oath to Sarbananda Sonowal as Chief Minister of Assam during a swearing-in ceremony at Veterinary College playground, Khanapara in Guwahati")
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), after registering a maiden electoral victory in the Northeast, made sure the swearing-in ceremony of Assam’s new Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and his council of ministers was a grand one.
The venue for the swearing-in ceremony was shifted from Raj Bhavan to a veterinary college playground at Khanaparam, to accommodate a huge gathering. The ground can accommodate around 100,000 and was packed to capacity on Tuesday.
Soon after the results were declared on May 19, the venue was finalised and work to put up a huge makeshift structure started. “We wanted the people to attend in large numbers and witness this historic moment. So we chose this venue,” said Rupam Goswami, BJP spokesperson. Guwahati donned a saffron look, with BJP flags and banners welcoming invitees for the ceremony.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and senior party leader Lal Krishna Advani attended the event. The ceremony also saw the presence of the chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Nagaland and Maharashtra. There were also at least a dozen Union ministers. Sonowal’s predecessor, Tarun Gogoi, who had ruled the state for 15 years since 2001, also attended the swearing-in ceremony.
Assam had in 1985 witnessed a similar kind of swearing-in ceremony when Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, along with his group of student leaders, stepped into Dispur straight from university campuses. That was after the Assam Agitation when the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) was voted to power in the state for the first time. The swearing-in ceremony then was held at the Nehru Stadium, a cricketing venue. After 1985, the swearing-in ceremony had always been at the Raj Bhavan, with a select invitee list.
After taking oath as the 16th chief minister of Assam, 53-years-old Sonowal said: “We have to make Assam infiltration-free, corruption-free and pollution-free. We will work for a greater Assamese society and people should keep a strict vigil on our work.”
Ten other elected representatives also took oath on Tuesday, including two representatives from AGP and the Bodo People’s Front (BPF). The BJP won 60 seats in Assam’s 126-member Assembly. Its alliance partners, AGP and BPF, won 14 and 12 seats, respectively.
Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “A leader belonging to the tribal community, a leader dedicated to serving society will now be the chief minister of Assam. I have always stressed that India’s growth should be balanced and all-inclusive. For this, the Northeast has to develop as well. Assam is a focal point for the development of Northeast.”
Modi said the Centre would extend all assistance to Assam and other Northeastern states to ensure speedy development.
