Guwahati, July 5: BJP MP from Assam Rajen Gohain was today sworn in as a minister of state, making him the lone face representing the state in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers.
Gohain was allocated railways portfolio and he will serve as the minister of state for railways.
Incidentally, today he also became the second Union minister from Nagaon after late Muhiram Saikia of AGP who was human resources minister in the Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral governments.
A four-time BJP MP from Nagaon, Gohain was inducted into the ministry as a representative from Assam in place of Sarbananda Sonowal, who resigned from the Union council of ministers in May this year after becoming the chief minister of the state.
Gohain's induction in the ministry is not only a mere filling up of the vacancy arising after Sonowal's appointment as chief minister.
Party insiders said apart from being the seniormost MP, Gohain, 65, also hails from the influential Ahom community of the state, which has been mostly backing the Congress which was unseated by the BJP-led alliance in the April Assembly elections.
Gohain's colleagues Ramen Deka and Rameswar Teli were also in the race, party sources said.
Congress' Tarun Gogoi, Assam's longest serving chief minister, is from the Ahom community as well.
"After serving the party for more than two decades, I feel honoured and extremely happy at my inclusion in the ministry and I am grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Amit Shah and other party leaders for giving me this opportunity," Gohain said.
"It is a big responsibility and I will spare no effort to live up to the expectations of the people. I want to assure that I won't let anybody down," he said.
He said since there are BJP-led governments both at the Centre and the state, this is the right time to go full throttle to achieve all-round development of the state.
Having joined the BJP in 1991, he went on to head the state unit of BJP from 2000 to 2003.
He also played a crucial role in facilitating Himanta Biswa Sarma's entry into the BJP from Congress.
When senior leaders such as Prodyut Bora, who has since left the BJP to form the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), publicly opposed Sarma's entry, Gohain went to the extent of saying that Sarma's entry will be "BJP's gain", something that was proved right. Sarma went on to play a crucial role in the BJP-led alliance's comprehensive victory in the Assembly polls. The well-entrenched Congress was reduced to 26 seats out of 126 and the BJP tally rose to 60 from a mere five in 2011.
"Heartiest congratulations to Shri Rajen Gohain on his induction into the Union Council of Ministers. Thanks to Hon'ble PM Shri Narendra Modi ji and Shri Amit Shah Ji for showing this love to Assam. I wish him all the best for his new assignment," chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal said in a Facebook post today.
