Himanta Biswa Sarma was Tarun Gogoi's "trusted lieutenant" in Congress for years till he led the dissidence against the Congress veteran for more than a year and switched over to BJP in August 2015.
Sarma, according to late Gogoi had led the dissidence as his demand to be named as the next CM candidate in the 2016 Assembly polls was turned down. He along with a few loyal MLAs quit the Congress and joined the BJP. Four months later, the BJP named Sarbananda Sonowal as its CM candidate, putting water into Sarma's aspiration for the top post. When the BJP wrested power from the Congress and formed its first government in Assam in 2016, Sarma was not even considered as he was new in the party.
On Sunday (May 9), Sarma's dream was finally fulfilled as BJP legislature party elected him as the next CM, replacing Sonowal, a week after the BJP and its allies AGP and UPPL won the mandate to form their government for the second consecutive term. The BJP-led alliance won 75 of Assam's 126 Assembly seats.
Sarma was credited for steering the BJP to victory in the elections Assam faced since 2016, be it the Lok Sabha polls or the autonomous council elections. The BJP's better show under Sarma as a poll strategist catapulted him as the tallest and the most visible leader of the party in the North East.
Born in 1969, Himanta was in the All Assam Students' Union before he began his political career by joining the Congress. He was mentored by former Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia. He contested the first Assembly elections in 1996 from Jalukbari against AGP strongman Bhrigu Kumar Phukan but lost. In 2001, Sarma defeated Phukan and since then he has been elected to the Assembly from Jalukbari for the fifth consecutive term. He was made a minister in the Tarun Gogoi Cabinet first in 2002 and later became a Cabinet minister in charge of health, education, IT, Guwahati Development, and Assam Accord. Under Sonowal, Himanta was a minister in charge of finance, health, education, and PWD. Sarma has also done his PhD and has written four books in Assamese as well.
After joining the saffron party, he became the convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance, a forum of BJP's allies in the North East. Sarma's clout in the BJP grew as he was instrumental in helping the party form its government in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. He also had a role in helping BJP's allies wrest power from Congress in Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya.
The BJP found itself on the backfoot during the violent agitation against the CAA in December 2019. Himanta again led the government and the party from the front. By taking a tough stand in controlling the violence and its after-effects on the BJP, and the hard work in tackling the coronavirus pandemic, Sarma, 52, once again proved himself to be a crisis manager for the party. From the selection of candidates to carrying out strong campaigns against the Congress and Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF in the 2021 Assembly polls, Sarma yet again proved himself as effective in challenging times.
Hindutva face
Sarma also gained praise of the top leadership and RSS by constantly pushing the Hindutva agenda and the polarisation narratives against both Congress and Ajmal, who stitched an alliance of seven opposition parties against the BJP ahead of the Assembly polls this year. He was the first BJP leader to reject the NRC as the final list reportedly left out names of more Hindus than Muslims. He has been strongly saying that Hindus cannot be termed as foreigners and be deported back to Bangladesh, even as the Assam Accord promised to detect and deport all post-1971 migrants, irrespective of religion.
Corruption charge
Months before Sarma joined the BJP in 2015, the saffron party released a "charge sheet" in New Delhi against the then Congress leaders in which it alleged Himanta's involvement in a scam in a water supply scheme involving a US-based firm and also in the Sarada scam. Sarma's name was also dragged in the alleged Rs 1,000 crore scam in North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council, which rocked the state during Gogoi's tenure. But not much has been heard about the allegations as Himanta's clout grew in the BJP.