Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday expanded his Cabinet by inducting seven new Ministers.
The expansion of the Ministry was done for the first time since the NDA government came to power in 2016.
While four Ministers are of Cabinet rank, three are in the post of Ministers of State.
Siddhartha Bhattacharyya, Bhabesh Kalita, Sum Ronghang, Tapan Gogoi and Pijush Hazarika of the BJP, Phani Bhushan Choudhury of the AGP and Chandan Brahma of the BPF were sworn in by Governor Jagdish Mukhi at a function at the Raj Bhawan.
Of the seven, the MLAs of the AGP and the BPF have previous experience as Ministers in the previous governments in the State.
The Sarbananda Sonowal Ministry was sworn in on May 24, 2016 with 11 Ministers — the Chief Minister, eight Cabinet Ministers and two Ministers of State with independent charge — taking oath.
Assam can have 19 Ministers, including the Chief Minister. So, even after the induction of seven new Ministers one more position remains vacant.
