Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expanded his council of ministers for the first time on Saturday since 2022 by inducting four new faces, two each from Upper Assam and Barak Valley, with just over a year to go for the Assembly polls.

All the new ministers, who were administered the oath of office at the Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra by governor L.P. Acharya in the presence of Sarma, are from the BJP, including four-time Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukan, two-time Patherkandi MLA Krishnendu Paul and first-timers Rupesh Goala (Doomdooma) and Kaushik Rai (Lakhipur).

While Phukan and Goala are from Upper Assam, Rai and Paul are from Barak Valley, two regions where the BJP have done well in the 2016 and 2021 Assembly polls.

Saturday’s induction suggests the ruling party will keep its focus firmly on these two regions where the Congress had managed to reclaim some lost ground in the Lok Sabha polls, especially regaining the Jorhat seat from the BJP and scaring the ruling party in Karimganj.

Both Upper Assam and Barak Valley have a good number of tea gardens and a Hindi and Bengali-speaking population. Goala is the current general secretary of the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangh, an influential body of tea workers/tribes.

With the expansion, only one ministerial berth remains vacant in the 19-member ministry, including the chief minister.

Sarma said the expansion will help do justice to the various departments and meet the aspirations of several regions and communities and that a rejig of the portfolios will be announced on Monday.

Retweeting a post from the CMO on X introducing the four ministers, Sarma said, “Welcome to Team Assam! With a balance of experience and fresh ideas, the expanded #AssamCabinet looks forward to be in the service of people 24/7.”

In another post, while congratulating them, he said he was looking forward to working with them to fulfil Prime minister Narendra Modi’s “vision of a Viksit Assam. #Govt4Growth”

He told reporters his government’s key objective was and will remain development that benefits all sections of the people.

While Sarma had taken oath with 13 ministers in 2021 May, he expanded his ministry for the first time in 2022 by inducting two ministers — Jayanta Malla Baruah and Nandita Gorlosa.