The BJP's lead strategist in northeastern states and senior leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was on Sunday elected as the leader of the newly-elected MLAs of the party, will take charge as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam on Monday.
Governor Jagdish Mukhi invited him to be sworn in after Sarma met him Sunday. Sarma will be administered the oath of office by the Governor on Monday at the Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra at 12 noon.
The BJP leader will be sworn in as the next chief minister of Assam after Sarbananda Sonowal. A legislative party meeting was held on Sunday to decide the next chief minister of the state. BJP chief JP Nadda had also chaired a meeting regarding the same in Delhi.
Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday tendered his resignation to Governor Jagdish Chandra Mukhi at Raj Bhavan, Assam.
52-year-old Sarma in his address, after being elected unanimously, was effusive in his praise for Sonowal and described his tenure as "unblemished without a single charge of corruption or any other allegations".
Sarma, later in a tweet thanking the Prime Minister, said he "feels enormously blessed for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's faith in me. This is the biggest day in my life, and I so fondly cherish your generous affection. I assure you we shall leave no stone unturned to carry forward your vision of taking Assam and North East to greater heights".
In another tweet, thanking the people of Assam, he said, "With fragrance of Assam in my heart and love of my wonderful people in my veins, I offer my deepest gratitude to you all. I would not have been what I am had it not been for your pious faith in me. On this day, I vow to work with each one of you with greater passion".
In the recent Assembly polls in Assam, BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a clean majority with 75 seats out of the total 126 constituencies. Of these, the BJP won 60 seats which is about 33 per cent, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) secured nine seats and United People`s Party Liberal (UPPL) won six seats.
(With agency inputs)
