Guwahati: Chief minister-designate Himanta Biswa Sarma is set to join BJP’s elite club of leaders who have held the CM’s post for consecutive terms — a circle led by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi — when he takes oath for his second successive term as Assam’s CM on Tuesday.Modi, who served four consecutive terms as Gujarat CM between 2001 and 2014 before moving to Delhi, tops BJP’s list of multi-term leaders. On Tuesday, he will stand witness as Sarma writes his own chapter in that history.The PM arrived in Guwahati late on Monday night to attend the swearing-in ceremony, where governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya will administer the oath to Sarma and four cabinet ministers likely — including one each from BJP’s allies AGP and BPF — at 10.40am at Khanapara’s Veterinary College Field in Guwahati.Behind Modi are Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who held three consecutive terms in Madhya Pradesh (2005-2018), and Raman Singh, who led Chhattisgarh for the same duration (2003-2018). Yogi Adityanath is currently serving his second consecutive term in Uttar Pradesh since 2017, and Pema Khandu in Arunachal Pradesh (2019, 2024). N Biren Singh, after being sworn in for two successive terms (2017, 2022), stepped down last year.With his return to office, Sarma becomes the fifth BJP leader to achieve this milestone, having first taken charge in 2021.The swearing-in ceremony at Khanapara is expected to be a grand show of strength.Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president Nitin Nabin arrived late on Monday evening, while defense minister Rajnath Singh and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman are expected on Tuesday morning.As many as 43 NDA CMs and deputy CMs have been invited to witness the ceremony, most of whom have already reached Guwahati.The gathering will also feature top industrialists, including Jeet Adani, director at Adani Airport Holdings Ltd; Sajjan Jindal, managing director of JSW Group; foreign ambassadors; Vaishnavite monastery heads; and BJP booth presidents — the grassroots backbone of the party’s sweeping victory.BJP secured 82 seats in the 126-member legislative assembly, marking its first single-party majority in Assam.With allies AGP and BPF winning 10 seats each, NDA’s tally rose to 102, ensuring a comfortable majority. This marks the alliance’s third consecutive tenure in Assam since 2016, consolidating BJP’s dominance in the region.Sarma’s leadership has been credited with strengthening BJP’s base in the northeast, and his second term is being seen as a significant political moment.Sarma was unanimously elected leader of BJP-led NDA legislature party on Sunday, after which he, along with alliance leaders, met the governor at Lok Bhavan and formally staked claim to form the govt.Union minister JP Nadda and Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini, appointed as BJP’s central observer and co-observer, oversaw Sarma’s election as NDA’s legislative leader.
