With the BJP bracing up for next year’s Assam Assembly elections, the party on Saturday appointed Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal as its state unit chief.
With the BJP bracing up for next year’s Assam Assembly elections, the party on Saturday appointed Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal as its state unit chief.
The BJP has also made Mr Sonowal head of state election management committee. The BJP has apparently dropped enough hints that Mr Sonowal would be the party face in the state polls.
The BJP has also appointed the high profile state leader, who quit the Congress to join the saffron party, Himanta Biswa Sarma as convenor of the election committee.
The BJP appears to have given signals that the party has taken lessons from both the Bihar and Delhi poll debacles, that the party would now have a face and it would not be an outsider. Mr Sharma was earlier speculated to be in the reckoning for the CM face, but the party appears to have factored in that such a move would have antagonised the local cadre.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar made the announcements for the new appointments. With this, there is also enough indication that the Cabinet reshuffle is very much on the cards, as one who is given party work does not hold government position as per the scheme of things in the BJP.
It may be noted that the BJP in Bihar had not projected a chief ministerial candidate and had also not formed any statewide election committee and instead put many outsiders as well as local leaders in charge of various zones. Mr Sonowal currently holds independent charge of sports and youth affairs ministry.
However, Mr Javadekar evaded a query on whether Mr Sonowal will be the party’s chief ministerial face. He said that a decision will be taken by the parliamentary board at an appropriate time.
