Guwahati: The inaugural session of the 16th Assam Legislative Assembly commenced on Thursday with newly elected legislators taking oath of office and senior BJP leader Ranjeet Kumar Dass unanimously elected as Speaker of the House for a second time. The session began with veteran BJP MLA Chandra Mohan Patowary serving as the pro tem Speaker. As the senior-most member of the Assembly, he administered the oath first to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and members of the council of ministers, including Atul Bora, Rameswar Teli, Ajanta Neog and Charan Boro. The oath-taking ceremony later continued with MLAs choosing to speak in different languages such as Assamese, Hindi, Bengali, Bodo, English and Sanskrit. In a significant move, the Assembly also allowed members to take oath in regional languages not included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. This enabled several legislators to use languages including Karbi, Rabha and Rajbongshi.
Also Read: Tezpur University Start-up Develops Portable Smartphone Microscope
Following the swearing-in ceremony, the House unanimously elected Ranjeet Kumar Dass as Speaker. Representing the Bhawanipur-Sorbhog constituency, Dass had earlier served in the same role during 2016-17. According to Chief Minister Sarma, he is the first individual to be elected Speaker of the Assam Assembly for a second term. Before entering politics in 2005, Dass worked as a journalist, teacher and officer in the Indian Information Service. He later held important organisational and ministerial responsibilities within the BJP-led government in Assam.
Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya is expected to address the Assembly on Friday, while discussions on a proposed Uniform Civil Code legislation are likely to take place during the concluding day of the session on May 26.
