Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took oath as a member of the 16th Assam Legislative Assembly on Thursday as the first session of the newly elected House began in Guwahati.The oath was administered by Protem Speaker Chandra Mohan Patowary during the opening proceedings of the Assembly session. Sarma took the oath in Assamese. Soon after the chief minister’s oath-taking, MLAs from different political parties also took oath as members of the Assembly. The ceremony reflected the linguistic diversity of Assam, with legislators taking oath in Assamese, Bengali, Bodo and Sanskrit.
Before the swearing-in process started, Patowary informed the members that they were free to choose any recognised language for taking the oath. “All the members can take an oath in any recognised language they wish to. They can submit their oath copies to the assembly office,” he said during the proceedings. The first sitting of the new Assembly witnessed the formal beginning of the legislative process after the recently concluded Assembly elections in the state. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), returned to power in Assam with a strong majority in the 126-member Assembly. The alliance, headed by Sarma, secured 102 seats in total.
The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 82 seats. Its alliance partners, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), won 10 seats each. On the opposition side, the Congress secured 19 seats in the Assembly. Raijor Dal won two seats, while the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and the Trinamool Congress managed two and one seats respectively after contesting independently.