Himanta Biswa Sarma likely to contest Assam Assembly polls

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to field Assam Minister and senior party leader, Himanta Biswa Sarma, in the upcoming Assembly polls.

The BJP state leadership recommended Sarma's name to the Central Election Committee (CEC) for the party nomination. Assam BJP Chief, Ranjeet Kumar Dass, said Sarma would contest the upcoming state Assembly polls.

According to Dass, the BJP Assam unit has recommended Sarma's name along with a list of other probable candidates to the party's central leadership.

"We have sent Sarma's name to the Parliamentary Board for the party candidature. If the party decides to field Sarma in the upcoming polls then he will contest," Dass said.

Dass added, "Once you are a party worker, whatever decision the party takes, you have to follow. In 2019, he (Sarma) decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls but the party decided against his wish and he accepted the decision."

"The party does not work on individual wishes, whether it is about contesting elections or not," he added.

Earlier, Sarma had said that he had communicated to the state leadership a year ago about his desire of not contesting the upcoming Assembly polls.

He will follow the party instructions if asked to contest the polls, Sarma added. At present, Sarma is representing the Jalukbari constituency in the Assam Assembly.

Sarma, an important political figure in Assam and the north-east, had played a crucial role in the BJP's expansion and electoral victory in the region. The polling for 126 seats of the Assam Assembly would be held in three phases on March 27, April 1 and 8. The counting of votes would take place on May 2. In the last Assembly polls in 2016, the BJP had formed the government in the state.