Guwahati, 21 May (HS): Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday took oath as a member of the 16th Assam Legislative Assembly as the new session of the House commenced in Guwahati.

The oath was administered by Protem Speaker Chandra Mohan Patowary. The chief minister chose Assamese for the swearing-in ceremony.

At the start of the proceedings, Patowary informed the newly elected legislators that they were free to take oath in any recognised language and could submit the oath documents to the Assembly office accordingly.

After the chief minister’s oath-taking, legislators from different political parties were sworn in using Assamese, Bengali, Bodo and Sanskrit, highlighting the multilingual character of the state Assembly.

The ceremony followed the NDA’s emphatic victory in the recently concluded Assam Assembly elections. The alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, along with the Asom Gana Parishad and the Bodoland People's Front, secured 102 seats in the 126-member Assembly.

The BJP won 82 seats, while the AGP and BPF bagged 10 seats each. In the opposition camp, the Indian National Congress secured 19 seats, while Raijor Dal won two. The All India United Democratic Front and the All India Trinamool Congress obtained two and one seat respectively.-----------

Hindusthan Samachar / Sriprakash