GUWAHATI: BJP ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has proposed the continuation of Himanta Biswa Sarma as Assam Chief Minister.
“We had a meeting of our legislature party, and it proposed the name of Himanta Biswa Sarma for the post of the Chief Minister,” AGP president Atul Bora said on Thursday.
He heaped praise on Sarma, stating that the BJP leader had worked very hard in the past five years for Assam’s development.
“No government has done as much as he has for the state’s development. A lot more will be done in the next five years,” Bora said, adding that the huge mandate would encourage the NDA to perform better.
Talking about the Congress, he claimed that people have lost faith in the party.
“When they were in power, they indulged in rampant corruption. They depend on the votes of Bangladeshis. The Congress’s future is bleak,” he predicted.
Meanwhile, the BJP Legislature Party meeting will be held on May 10, followed by the swearing-in ceremony on May 12.
Union minister Jagat Prakash Nadda and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, appointed as central observer and co-observer respectively to oversee the election of the BJP Legislature Party leader, will arrive in Assam on May 9.
BJP’s Assam president Dilip Saikia said the oath-taking ceremony would be held on May 12 at 11 am, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending it as the chief guest.
Several central ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah; BJP national president Nitin Nabin, other senior leaders of the party, and CMs and Deputy CMs of BJP-ruled states will also attend it.
The NDA had swept the polls, winning 102 of the 126 seats.
The BJP alone had bagged 82 seats, while allies AGP and Bodoland People’s Front won 10 seats each.
The 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, and one by All India Trinamool Congress.