The Bharatiya Janata Party has indicated that central observers may be sent to Assam in a day or two even as internal consultation on how to determine who would be the next Chief Minister has already begun.
The BJP returned to power in Assam and both Sarbananda Sonowal and his colleague and campaign powerhouse Himanta Biswa Sarma is also seen as a contender for the chair. The ambiguity even from senior leaders through the campaign fuelled speculation that change might be in the air.
BJP sources said its parliamentary board may soon name central observers to preside over the meeting of its newly elected party MLAs in Guwahati where they will pick their leader.
The observers generally convey the choice of the top brass to the State leadership which in turn is endorsed by the MLAs. The party has won 60 seats this time which is the exact number it won in 2016.
Sonowal, from upper Assam, is a long-time BJP man while Sarma has been the mastermind of many of the party’s alliances in the northeast, and was at the forefront of handling the COVID-19 pandemic which many attribute as contributing to the BJP’s repeat victory.
