Himanta set for second term

Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya on Sunday invited Chief Minister-elect Himanta Biswa Sarma to form the next Government. Leaders of the NDA met Acharya at Lok Bhavan and staked claim to form the Government with Sarma at the helm. “The Governor has invited Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma to form the new Government in Assam,” Lok Bhavan said in the statement.

Acharya will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Sarma as Chief Minister and to the members of the Council of Ministers, it added. The ceremony is scheduled to take place on May 12, and is to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president Nitin Nabin and other senior leaders.

This will be the NDA’s third consecutive term in Assam since the BJP-led alliance first came to power in 2016 under then CM Sarbananda Sonowal. Sarma, who first took office in 2021, is set to become the first non-Congress chief minister of the State to serve two consecutive terms. The NDA secured a two-thirds majority in the assembly elections, winning a record 102 seats in the 126-member House. The BJP won 82 seats, while allies AGP and BPF secured 10 seats each.

Earlier in the morning, Sarma was elected as the leader of the BJP-led NDA in the Assam assembly. Union Minister JP Nadda and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini were present at the meeting as central observers and co-observers. Eight BJP legislators proposed the name of Sarma as its legislature party leader, Nadda said. The BJP partners in the alliance, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), also supported Sarma’s nomination, leading to his unanimous election as the NDA leader, Nadda said.