GUWAHATI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend the Assam oath-taking ceremony.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Modi was unable to attend the swearing-in ceremony last time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The BJP and our workers would want him to come this time. If he comes, we cannot fix the date. He will come at his convenience. That is why I think we will need two to three more days for discussions on the oath-taking ceremony,” Sarma said.
The BJP on Tuesday appointed party leader Jagat Prakash Nadda as the central observer for the election of the Assam BJP Legislature Party leader. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has been appointed as the central co-observer for the process.
Assam BJP president Dilip Saikia said the duo would take part in meetings of the BJP Legislature Party and NDA Legislature Party for the election of their leaders.
The BJP went into the Assam elections projecting Sarma as the next Chief Minister. During the poll campaign, Union Home Minister Amit Shah appealed to people to make Sarma Chief Minister again so that “infiltrators” could be driven out of the country.
The BJP-led NDA swept the Assam polls, winning 102 of the 126 seats. The BJP alone secured a majority with 82 seats. Allies Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front won 10 seats each.
Opposition parties won 24 seats — 19 by the Congress, two by its ally Raijor Dal, two by Maulana Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), and one by the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC).
Of the 24 winning Opposition candidates, 22 are Muslims — 18 from the Congress, two from AIUDF, and one each from Raijor Dal and AITC. The two Hindu Opposition winners are Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi and Congress’s Joy Prakash Das.