NEWSLINKS US EDITION COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
G Vinayak in Dispur
A seventeen-member Congress government led by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was sworn in by Assam's governor, Lieutenant General (retd) S K Sinha, on Friday afternoon amidst a boycott by the opposition Asom Gana Parishad-Bharatiya Janata Party combine.
Apart from Tarun Gogoi, who became Assam's fifteenth chief minister since Independence, there are 12 ministers of Cabinet rank and four ministers of state in the new government.
The hour-long oath-taking ceremony at the Raj Bhawan began at 1400 IST. It was preceded by utter chaos brought about by the overflowing crowd at the cramped Durbar Hall of the governor's residence.
Gogoi has tried to give representation to all the major groups, tribes and communities in Assam, though the Cabinet is still tilted in favour of the upper Assam region, from where he himself comes.
The lower Assam region, which gave the party 25 legislators for the first time in a quarter century, has got only two Cabinet berths.
There are only two women members, among them Dr Hemoprava Saikia, wife of the late chief minister Hiteswar Saikia. She has been given Cabinet rank.
Most of the ministers are veteran legislators. In fact, 10 of the 17 who took oath on Friday have been ministers in previous Congress governments in Assam.
Conspicuous by their absence at the ceremony were former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and Congress MLA Bhubaneshwar Kalita, who had challenged Gogoi's claim to the chief minister's post in the wake of the election results earlier this week.
None of the AGP or BJP legislators attended the ceremony either.
Talking to reporters after the ceremony, Gogoi said his priority would be to tackle the state's grim financial situation. "I have no magic wand, but I will try and solve as many problems as possible and as quickly as I can," he promised.
Gogoi said he would review the counter-insurgency operations in the state at the first meeting of the Cabinet, due to be held on Saturday, but made it clear that the army would stay in Assam, at least for the time being.
The new chief minister also held out hope for the many first-time MLAs, saying he would carry out an expansion of the ministry within a month.
Among those who attended the ceremony were Congress general secretary in-charge of Assam Kamal Nath, AICC member Jagdish Tytler and several Congress MPs from Assam.
Read more
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
