Himanta Biswa Sarma, who left the Congress to join the BJP, has been named the new chief minister of Assam after the Hindutva party replaced Sarbananda Sonowal with a new face after one five-year term in office. Sonowal met Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi to submit his resignation.
Soon after it emerged that the BJP had announced his name as the new chief minister of Assam, Sarma tweeted, “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy ~ Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. Reverence to the legend, who always inspires.”
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy ~ Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore
Reverence to the legend, who always inspires.#RabindraJayanti pic.twitter.com/11ll47pSxE
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) May 9, 2021
Sonowal, for his part, announced his resignation on Twitter as he shared a photo of himself with the Assam governor. He wrote, “With the blessings of the people, tendered my resignation as the Chief Minister of Assam to the Hon’ble Governor Shri @jagdishmukhi ji in Raj Bhavan, Guwahati.”
With the blessings of the people, tendered my resignation as the Chief Minister of Assam to the Hon’ble Governor Shri @jagdishmukhi ji in Raj Bhavan, Guwahati. pic.twitter.com/t4cu5jsfjQ
— Sarbananda Sonowal (@sarbanandsonwal) May 9, 2021
The results for Assam elections were announced on 2 May, but the BJP was unable to announce the name of its chief minister since Sarma had reportedly staked his claims for the top job in the state. Both Sonowal and Sarma were summoned to Delhi last week and after holding hours of discussions with them, the BJP decided in favour of Sarma.
The new chief minister would take oath of office on Monday.
