BJP on Thursday declared Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal its chief ministerial candidate for the Assam Assembly polls, making a departure from its usual practice of not naming a leader for State elections.
The BJP parliamentary board made the decision in an hour-long meeting attended among others by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah, its general secretary JP Nadda told reporters.
“The people of Assam know Sarbananda Sonowal as a ‘national hero’. The Parliamentary Board has decided that the party will fight the Assam polls in his leadership...BJP is going to form its Government in Assam,” Nadda, accompanied by party’s national secretary Shrikant Sharma, said.
The decision reflects a strategic shift in the party’s approach to contesting state assembly elections after ignoring state leadership and excessive focus on central leaders was blamed by many for its debacle in Bihar polls.
Sonowal expressed confidence that the party would dethrone the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress Government from the State. “I am confident that the BJP will defeat the Congress in the coming Assembly election and will make history in Assam,” he said.