NEW DELHI, May 30 - Former Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs and Arunachal Pradesh (West) Lok Sabha MP Kiren Rijiju has been promoted to MoS with independent charge, while Dibrugarh MP Rameswar Teli has been inducted as a junior minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi�s council of ministers.
The two were sworn in by President Ram Nath Kovind on the forecourts of the Rashtrapati Bhavan in front of about 6,000 dignitaries, including leaders of the BRICS nations. The function was also attended by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and other leaders of the Northeast.
Earlier, there was much speculation during the day with both Sonowal and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma camping in the national capital.
Party sources said Sonowal backed the candidature of Jorhat MP Topon Kumar Gogoi and had even spoken to top BJP central leaders. The name of Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, who is set to be elected to Rajya Sabha from Assam unopposed, was also doing the rounds after it became clear that a representative of the tea community will find place in the Union council of ministers.
Tea community representative Teli, who took his oath in Hindi, later told newsmen that he had joined the BJP in 1999 and since then he has been working with sincerity. �Whatever responsibility is given to me I will undertake with honestly,� he said.
�We have lots of problem in Assam and I will try to solve them in consultation with the State government. Assam will get top priority,� Teli said.
He disclosed that he got a call from the BJP central office here this morning. BJP national president Amit Shah and general secretary Ram Lal called me and requested me to be present at the Prime Minister�s residence at 5 pm,� he said. �First of all, I would like to thank BJP president, the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister,� he added.
