Assam polls 2026: No doubt over CM face as Himanta Biswa Sarma eyes second term
The counting of votes will be done on May 4. Union home minister Amit Shah, in a series of rallies both before the election was announced and after the election dates were announced, announced that the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government would be brought back once again and the BJP would ensure the deportation of every spy.
In 2016, when the BJP took on the Congress, it was speculated that the student leader-turned-politician Sarbananda Sonowal would take over three-time chief minister Tarun Gogoi. In 2021, under Sonowal’s leadership, the BJP fought the elections and won 60 seats in the 126-member assembly. The BJP had won 60 seats in 2016. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had used the slogan “Assam ka Anand Sarbanand” (Assam’s delight Sarbanand) during the 2016 assembly polls.
However, after the results were declared in 2021, it took the BJP leadership a few days to announce the name of the chief minister.
“There were days of uncertainty and a series of meetings in New Delhi involving both Sarma and Sonowal, after which the party leadership finally zeroed in on the name Sarma,” a senior BJP leader, who did not want to be named, told ET.
The leader said: “Since most of the exit polls have given the BJP and its allies a clear lead in Assam, there is no doubt about the chief ministerial election this time as Sarma’s popularity has skyrocketed in the last five years and the Prime Minister has applauded Sarma’s work in five years on several occasions.”
