The election fever is going on in the state but no party has declared its CM candidate yet. In 2016, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) contested elections by announcing Sarbananda Sonowal as its Chief Ministerial candidate, but the ruling party is yet to declare its CM candidate this time around. While replying to questions regarding the CM candidate the top leadership of the BJP said that it will all depend on the parliamentary board meeting which is usually held after the elections.
The case is the same for the Congress party as well. Speculations are on regarding the CM candidate of the party. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, MP Pradyut Bordoloi, APCC President Ripun Bora, CLP leader Debobrat Saikia are often discussed as the CM candidate from the party.
CM in waiting?
During elections, questions about the CM candidates are often asked to the political parties. The party in power often contests the elections on the face of the current CM. However, in this year’s Assam assembly elections, when the media questioned the top leadership of the BJP regarding the CM candidate, they ignored the question. They never publicly mentioned or even hinted that current Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal will continue to lead Assam. This hints that the BJP might have a plan B in mind.
Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the BJP in 2015 after failing to become the CM in congress despite having the support of 55 MLAs. According to a top source, when Sarma joined the BJP he told the central leadership that he needs the post if not in 2016 than in 2021.
Now it seems like the central leadership of BJP might be working in that direction. That can be clearly seen in BJP’s candidate list of the first 92 seats but the central leadership of the BJP might be hesitating to make an announcement in fear of internal conflicts in the party.
Another thing this election is the songs played in the election rallies of BJP. ‘Xokolute Ananda Sarbananda’ is nowhere to be heard. Now instead ‘Ahise Ahise Himanta Ahise’ is being played in most rallies. In addition, in the press meet where BJP declared its candidates, Himanta Biswa Sarma was leading the man.
In fact, even before the declaration of candidates, Sarma started to take stock of situations on the ground.
The central leadership may favor Sarma because of the stand he took for the party during the CAA agitation. During the agitation, he was more vocal than the CM.
Moreover, Sarma played an important role when the COVID pandemic was at its peak. He gained a lot of popularity for his lead role in Assam’s COVID-19 battle. The minister is also gaining popularity by launching many schemes such as Arunudoi, Swayam, etc. Recently he is also gaining popularity among the youths as ‘mama’ and through memes.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Sarma decided to contest from Tezpur but the central leadership stopped him from contesting and promised him something big after the 2021 assembly elections. The central leadership can see the rising popularity of Himanta Biswa Sarma in the state in the last few months. Now the BJP leadership might have realised that it is not easy to keep Himanta Biswa Sarma from the CM’s post.
Earlier, in Maharashtra, it was seen that the sitting CM Sushil Kumar Shinde getting dropped after the elections and Bilash Rao Deshmukh from the same party took over as the CM.
Sarma was first elected to the assembly in 2001 and for the last 10 years, he has been the CM in waiting. Now we have to wait a few days more to see whether or not the CM in waiting becomes the CM of Assam.