Himanta Biswa Sarma is all set to become Assam’s next chief minister. The BJP leader was elected unanimously by the BJP Legislature Party, in a meeting held in Guwahati on Sunday. Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and party General Secretary Arun Singh were present as central observers at the BJP Legislature Party meet.
Sarma”s name was proposed by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and seconded by BJP state party president Ranjeet Kumar Dass and newly elected Haflong MLA Nandita Garlosa.
As no other nams were proposed, ””Sarma has been unanimously elected as the BJP Legislature Party leader””.
Tomar said BJP will soon hold a meeting with its alliance partners the AGP and the UPPL.
Earlier on Sunday, Sarbananda Sonowal submitted his resignation to Governor Jagdish Mukhi prior to the BJP Legislature party meet.
“With the blessings of the people, tendered my resignation as the Chief Minister of Assam to the Hon’ble Governor Shri @jagdishmukhi ji in Raj Bhavan, Guwahati,” Sonowal tweeted.
Arguably one of the most influential politicians in North-east India Sarma has been BJP’s key man and troubleshooter in the region. The BJP leader held key portfolios in the outgoing government and had switched to BJP from Congress before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He is also the convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) and has played a pivotal role in cementing BJP’s presence in the region.
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The party”s central leadership had summoned Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, both contenders for the top post, to New Delhi on Saturday for discussions on the formation of the next government in the state.
Of the 126 assembly seats in Assam, the ruling alliance has secured 75 seats with BJP winning 60 while its alliance partners AGP got nine seats and UPPL six.