Expressing his gratitude to the people of Assam for giving Sarbananda Sonowal and his ministers an opportunity to serve them, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said their job was not yet over because for the development of the state, they would have to work together with the state government.
"I want to congratulate the people of Assam, who have dreamt of development and given a chance to Sonowalji and his team to serve them. But, I also want to tell the people of Assam that their job doesn't end at voting, but for development, it is imperative that government and people work together," said Prime Minister Modi, while speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of Sonowal as the Assam chief minister here.
"A leader belonging to the tribal community, a leader dedicated to serving society will now be the chief minister of Assam. I am sure Sonowalji will serve Assam and work very hard to transform Assam and his team will do the same, said the Prime Minister, who campained actively in poll-bound Assam to ensure the Bharatiya Janata Party's victory.
Prime Minister Modi, however, said, "India's development has to be all-round and inclusive, and eastern part of India cannot remains away from the development journey." "Assam jitna daudegi, Kendra sarkar bhi usse ek kadam zyada daudne ka prayaas karegi," he added.
Saying that the Central government believes in cooperative federalism, he said, "I want to give the states maximum strength enabling them to progress. Democracy is about 'Bhagidari' (participation). The Centre and the states must walk shoulder to shoulder for development."
Sonowal was sworn in as the chief minister of the first ever BJP government in northeast, replacing the 15-year-old Congress government led by Tarun Gogoi.
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Fifty-three-year-old Sonowal was administered the oath of office by Assam Governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP stalwart L.K. Advani, party president Amit Shah, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkiah Naidu, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, former chief minister Tarun Gogoi and others at a ceremony organised here.
It was the first time after 1985 when a chief minister took oath in an open field. All arrangements were made by the administration to smoothly conduct the swearing-in ceremony.
In the 126-seat Assam assembly, the National Democratic Alliance secured an absolute majority, with the BJP claiming 60 seats, AGP 14 and BPF 12, while the Congress which had secured 78 seats in the 2011 assembly elections reduced to just 26 seats.