Veteran Congress leader Tarun Gogoi here on Wednesday scripted a new history by taking over the office of Assam chief minister for the third successive term. Assam governor J.B. Patnaik administered the oath of office and secrecy to 76-year-old Gogoi in Assamese at Durbara Hall of Raj Bhavan.
Mr Gogoi, who is the second politician after Bimala Prasad Chaliha to head the state for a third consecutive term, was wearing a white kurta and pyjama and a waistcoat.
He came to the swearing-in ceremony with his wife Dolly, son Gaurav and daughter Chandrima.
Union development of north-eastern region minister Bijoy Krishna Handique, Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma and Assam Pradesh Congress president Bhubaneswar Kalita were among those who attended the swearing-in ceremony.
The 77 newly-elected Congress MLAs, 12 MLAs of ally Bodoland Peoples’ Front led by Hagrama Mohilary and senior civil, police and Army officials also attended the event.
Mr Gogoi attributed the landslide victory of his party to the achievements of his government, especially in improving the law and order situation and in bringing all major insurgent groups, save for some factions, to the negotiating table. Development work such as the construction of roads and bridges, the accent on health and education, welfare measures for the poor, farmers, weavers and all marginalised sections of the society went down well with the people. However, no prominent leader of the Opposition was present at the ceremony as the Opposition AGP, which had suffered a humiliating defeat in the elections, observed the day as a black day of Indian democracy. The AGP said the mandate was “partly of the people of the state and mostly of the tampered EVMs”.
Meanwhile, the biggest challenge before the chief minister is Cabinet formation as there are too many aspirants for ministerial berths.
However, as the size of the ministry is to be limited to 19 and the BPF will continue to be in government too, Mr Gogoi is said to have been trying all possible permutations and combinations to ensure proportional representation in his council of ministers.