Himanta Biswa Sarma likely to be next Assam CM; Sonowal submits resignation

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership is likely to name Himanta Biswa Sarma as next chief minister of Assam.

Meanwhile, outgoing Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal submitted his resignation to Governor Jagdish Mukhi on Sunday.

Sarma and Sonowal, the two main contenders for the chief minister’s post met BJP president J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah here on Saturday.

The BJP had not announced a chief ministerial candidate before the Assembly polls in Assam.

In the 2016 Assembly polls, the BJP had projected Sonowal as its chief ministerial candidate and won, forming the first saffron party government in the northeast.

This time, the party has been maintaining that it would decide who would be the next chief minister of Assam after the elections.

In the results announced for the 126-member Assam assembly last Sunday, the BJP won 60 seats while its alliance partners AGP got nine seats and UPPL six.