Cabinet Type: | Ministry |
Cabinet Number: | 21st |
Jurisdiction: | Assam |
Flag Border: | true |
Date Formed: | 24 May 2016 |
Date Dissolved: | 10 May 2021 |
Government Head: | Sarbananda Sonowal |
State Head: | Padmanabha Acharya (until 17 August 2016) Banwarilal Purohit (22 August 2016 till 29 September 2017) Jagdish Mukhi (from 10 October 2017) |
Political Parties: | National Democratic Alliance |
Legislature Status: | Coalition |
Opposition Party: | Indian National Congress |
Opposition Leader: | Debabrata Saikia |
Election: | 2016 |
Last Election: | 2021 |
Legislature Term: | 5 years |
Previous: | Third Tarun Gogoi Ministry |
Successor: | Himanta Biswa Sarma ministry |
The Sonowal ministry was the state ministry of Assam headed by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal from 2016 till 2021. The ministry was formed on 24 May 2016[1] on the aftermath of the 2016 legislative assembly election which resulted in the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as the majority party.
At the time of its formation in May 2016, the cabinet consisted of chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, eight ministers of cabinet rank and two ministers of state (independent charge). The cabinet ministers were Himanta Biswa Sarma, Parimal Suklabaidya, Chandra Mohan Patowary and Ranjit Dutta (all from Bharatiya Janata Party), Pramila Rani Brahma and Rihon Daimary (both from Bodoland People's Front) and Atul Bora and Keshab Mahanta (from the Asom Gana Parishad). The ministers of state were Naba Kumar Doley and Pallab Lochan Das, both from BJP.
The ministry was expanded on 26 April 2018[2] [3] with the induction of three cabinet ministers - Siddhartha Bhattacharya and Sum Ronghang (BJP), Phani Bhusan Choudhury (AGP) and Chandan Brahma (BPF). Three BJP MLAs were inducted as ministers of state (independent charge), namely Bhabesh Kalita, Pijush Hazarika and Topon Kumar Gogoi. Two ministers of state Pallab Lochan Das and Topon Kumar Gogoi were elected to the 17th Lok Sabha and resigned from their positions on 4 June 2019.
The cabinet was expanded on 18 January 2020 with the induction of two BJP MLAs Jogen Mohan and Sanjoy Kishan as ministers of state (independent charge). Cabinet Minister Chandan Brahma resigned from the cabinet on 7 March 2021 after joining the Indian National Congress prior to the election.