Assam CM meets Governor, cabinet expansion on the cards

Guwahati : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma paid a courtesy visit to Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya at Raj Bhavan on Monday, officials said.

The Chief Minister and the Governor discussed developmental initiatives.

Moreover, CM Sarma also apprised the Governor of schemes that the government is taking for the welfare of all sections of the people. He also informed Governor Acharya of all the development works being carried out by the government in the state.

Meanwhile, the expansion of the cabinet is on the cards. CM Sarma had earlier said that new ministers would be inducted against the vacant berths in the cabinet once the by-election is over.

Now, as bypolls conclude in the state, there are speculations that Sarma met the Governor to discuss the probable cabinet expansion.

BJP swept the by-election in Assam by winning all five Assembly constituencies -- Dholai, Behali, Samaguri, Bongaigaon, Sidli – that went to polls on November 13. Bypolls were necessitated as the incumbent legislators were elected to the Lok Sabha this year.

Congress fought by-elections in five seats but drew a blank.

Except for Samaguri, other four constituencies were held by BJP and its allies -- Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL).

Congress heavyweight and now Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain has been representing the Samaguri seat in the state Assembly since 2001. He fought this year’s Lok Sabha election and defeated three-time MP Badruddin Ajmal in Dhubri. His son Tanzil Hussain was given a Congress ticket to fight polls in Samaguri; however, he lost to BJP’s Diplu Ranjan Sarmah by a margin of more than 26,000 votes.

The BJP has retained two constituencies -- Dholai and Behali with Nihar Ranjan Das and Diganta Ghatowal comfortably winning these two constituencies in the by-election.

Diptimayee Choudhury of AGP won the Bongaigaon seat by a margin of 35,164 votes. Her husband and now a Lok Sabha MP from Barpeta --Phanibhusan Choudhury was a six-time MLA from Bongaigaon seat.

Another ally of the BJP, UPPL also won the by-election in Sidli Assembly constituency defeating his nearest candidate by a margin of 37,016 votes.