Assam cabinet expansion on June 5; 12 ministers, 4 new faces to take oath

Guwahati: A month after the Assam Assembly election results, the expansion of the state council of ministers will take place on Friday, with 12 ministers set to take oath of office, including four new faces.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a post on X, “I am pleased to announce that the following Hon’ble Members of the Assam Legislative Assembly will be sworn in as Cabinet Ministers in the Government of Assam on 5 June 2026 at 12:45 PM: Ashwini Ray Sarkar, Ashok Singhal, Bimal Borah, Biswajit Daimary, Jayant Mallabaruah, Kaushik Rai, Keshab Mahanta, Krishnendu Paul, Nilima Devi, Pijush Hazarika, Dr. Ranoj Pegu, Susanta Borgohain.”

The four new entrants in the council of ministers are Ashwini Ray Sarkar, Nilima Devi, Biswajit Daimary and Susanta Borgohain. BJP ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has secured two berths in the ministry. Former minister Keshab Mahanta has also found a place in the new council of ministers.


The BJP returned to power in Assam for a third consecutive term. Sarma, along with four other ministers, took oath on May 12, following which the expansion of the ministry was delayed.

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After being sworn in, Sarma made multiple visits to Delhi amid discussions over the cabinet expansion. Rameswar Teli, Atul Bora, Charan Boro and Ajanta Neog took oath on May 13. Teli and Neog belong to the BJP, while Bora represents ally AGP and Boro comes from another ally, the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF).

Pradyut Bordoloi, the Congress Lok Sabha MP who joined the BJP ahead of the Assembly polls, was given a party ticket within 24 hours of joining and won from the Dispur seat. However, his name does not figure in the new council of ministers.

Similarly, senior leader and former Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Kumar Borah, who joined the BJP before the polls and won from the Bihpuria seat, has also not been included in the ministry.

Susanta Borgohain had won the Thowra constituency in 2021 as a Congress candidate. He quit the Congress in June 2021 and later contested the bypoll as a BJP candidate from Thowra and won. Following the 2023 delimitation exercise, the Thowra seat ceased to exist, after which Borgohain won from the Demow constituency in the 2026 Assembly elections.

A senior BJP leader said, “The size of the council of ministers, including the chief minister, is 18. BPF has to manage with one ministerial berth in the council of ministers. AGP has been given two berths.”

The leader added, “In earlier governments, allies got two ministerial berths each. In 2016, AGP got two ministerial berths, and in 2021 AGP again got two ministerial berths. In 2021, the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), which was an ally of the BJP, also got two berths in the council of ministers.”

The BJP improved its tally from 60 seats in 2021 to 82 seats in the 126-member Assembly this time. The NDA together won 102 seats, while both AGP and BPF secured 10 seats each.