GUWAHATI, May 26 � Bringing an end to all speculations, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today returned from New Delhi with the list of his council of Ministers and the new Ministers will be sworn in by the Governor JB Patnaik tomorrow.
Official sources said that the swearing in ceremony would be held at the Pragjyoti ITA Centre for Performing Arts, Machkhowa at 4 pm tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the Governor will also administer oath to senior Congress member Dr Bhumidhar Barman as pro-tem Speaker of the Assembly tomorrow. Dr Barman will administer oath to the members of the Assembly on June 6 before the election of the new Speaker of the House.
The council of Ministers will have several new faces, while, a few senior members of the Congress and former Ministers will not be included in the new Ministry. In the last Ministry from 2006 -2011, the Bodoland People�s Front (BPF) had three members, but with Congress getting absolute majority this time, only one BPF member will be included in the Ministry this time. There was confusion about the lone BPF member to be included in the Ministry, which delayed sending of the list to the Raj Bhawan for the approval of the Governor. But official sources said that finally the name of Chandan Brahma has been cleared for inclusion in the Ministry.
The Congress has also decided to nominate former Minister Pranab Gogoi and Bhimananda Tanti for the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively.
Congress sources said that former Speaker Tanka Bahadur Rai, Rajiv Lochan Pegu, former Deputy Speaker Pranati Phukan, Ajit Singh, Siddique Ahmed, Dr Ardhendu Kumar Dey, Nilamani Sen Deka and Basanta Das would be the new faces in the Ministry, while, Pradyut Bordoloi, Prithibi Majhi, Gautam Roy, Khorsing Ingty, Rockybul Hussain, Dr Nazrul Islam, Himanta Biswa Sarma , Ajanta Neog and Akan Bora will be retained. Party sources said that though senior member Dr Bhumidhar Barman would not be included in the Ministry, he would be accommodated elsewhere.
