GUWAHATI, July 5 ? Bringing an end to speculations for more than a month, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi finally announced the list of his new downsized Ministry here this evening. No new face has been included in the Ministry, while several senior Ministers including Public Works Department Minister Sarat Barkataki, Power Minister Devananda Konwar , Agriculture Minister Dr Ardhendu Kumar Dey and Industries Minister Bhubaneswar Kalita have been dropped from the Ministry.
As all the Ministers had submitted their resignations to the Chief Minister to enable him to downsize the Ministry, he has rejected the resignations of the Ministers who have been retained, while, the resignations of those, who have been dropped from the Ministry, have been sent to the Raj Bhawan for acceptance by the Governor this evening. The portfolios of the Ministers retained in the new Ministry have not been changed so far and it is believed that the Chief Minister would not do so till the completion of the Budget session of the State Assembly. However, a few senior Ministers may get additional portfolios soon.
The Ministers who have been retained in the new Ministry are Health Minister Dr Bhumidhar Barman, Minister for Handloom, Textile and Sericulture Dr Hemoprabha Saikia, Hill Areas and Veterinary Minister GC Langthasa, Excise and Labour Minister Rameswar Dhanowar, Public Health Engineering Minister Dinesh Prasad Goala, Social Welfare Minister Gautam Roy, Minister in charge of Welfare of Plains Tribes and Backward Classes Bharat Chandra Narah, Irrigation Minister Ismail Hussain, Urban Development Minister Hem Prakash Narayan, Transport Minister Anjan Dutta, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Nazrul Islam, Minister of State for Forest Pradyut Bordoloi, Minister of State for Rural Development Ripun Bora, Minister of State for Home Rockybul Hussain, Minister of State for Planning and Development Himanta Biswa Sarma, Minister of State for Cooperation Misbaul Islam Laskar, Minister of State for Char Areas Development Wazed Ali Choudhury and Minister of State for Tourism Ajanta Neog .
The Ministers who have been dropped are PWD Minister Sarat Barkataki, Power Minister Devananda Kokwar, Education Minister Pankaj Bora, Agriculture Minister Dr Ardhendu Kumar Dey, Revenue Minister Mithius Tudu, Industries Minister Bhubaneswar Kalita, Water Resources Minister Nurzamal Sarkar, Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare Capt Robin Bordoloi, Minister of State for Culture Pranati Phukan, Minister of State for Transport Sarifa Begum, Minister of State for PHE, Sukur Ali Ahmed, Minister of State for Finance Nilamani Sen Deka, Minister of State for PWD Etowa Munda, Minister of State for Power Ananda Ram Baruah, Minister of State for Health and Education Rupam Singh Ronghang and the Minister of State for WPT and BC Pranoy Rabha.
The Chief Minister is likely to create a few posts of Parliamentary secretaries to absorb a few of the Ministers dropped today and according to informed sources at least five such posts will be created shortly, while, the other dropped Ministers will be used in party works.
It may be mentioned here that the issue of downsizing the Ministry hogged the limelight and triggered media speculations for more than a month and the Chief Minister was in Delhi for the past one week to hold talks with the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders of the party to finalise the list of his new Ministry. He finally announced the list this evening after arriving in the city this afternoon. Majority of the Ministers rushed to Delhi for last minute lobbying to retain their positions in the Ministry and it is apparent that an effort has been made to keep at least one Minister from each district. As Himanta Biswa Sarma has been retained in the Ministry, the other two Ministers from Guwahati ? Pankaj Bora and Capt Robin Bordoloi lost out. According to reports there were differences of opinion among Congress leaders on whether Sarat Borkotoki or Anjan Dutta, both from the Sivasagar district, should be retained from the Ministry, but the success of the Transport Minister in revamping the Assam State Transport Corporation apparently tilted the balance in favour of Dutta.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister announced that the services of those who could not be accommodated in the Ministry, would be utilised in various capacities.
Talking to newsmen at Delhi, Bhubaneswar Kalita said that he had talked with the Congress president this afternoon and she assured him to utilise his services in party work. It may be mentioned here that Bhubaneswar Kalita was offered the post of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president after Paban Singh Ghatowar expressed his desire to step down from the post.