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Himanta Sarma Has Dropped Hints of National Calling. But Will BJP's Star of Northeast Shine Beyond Assam?

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Himanta Sarma Has Dropped Hints of National Calling. But Will BJP's Star of Northeast Shine Beyond Assam?

By: Kamalika Sengupta

Edited By: Nitya Thirumalai

Last Updated: September 16, 2022, 14:28 IST

Kolkata [Calcutta], India

Himanta Biswa Sarma has been enjoying quite a run in the BJP and the Northeast since jumping ship in 2015. (Twitter/@himantabiswa)

Having cemented his position in the politics of the Northeast, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has now started wading into national politics, beginning with the role he played in ensuring the BJP returns to power in Maharashtra

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From negotiating peace accords to engineering government formations to providing safe haven for Maharashtra MLAs sympathetic to the BJP, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma seems to have all the answers. And now the star of the Northeast has turned his gaze towards national politics, seven years after he bitterly left the Congress for saffron pastures.

Fondly called 'mama' in Assam, Sarma has been enjoying quite a run in the BJP and the Northeast since jumping ship in 2015. The year after joining, he was made the convenor of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), a platform of the BJP formed for the development of all northeastern states. Since NEDA's formation, several peace accords have been signed with insurgent groups and several border disputes have been resolved. In 2017, he played a crucial role in government formations in Manipur and Meghalaya.

Having cemented his position in the politics of the Northeast, the Assam Chief Minister has now started wading into national politics, beginning with the role he played in ensuring the BJP returns to power in Maharashtra. Around 40 Shiv Sena MLAs of the Eknath Shinde camp were flown to Guwahati via Surat in June-end and sequestered in a five-star hotel, while the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena-Congress-NCP government collapsed in Maharashtra. Shinde eventually formed the government with BJP support.

"The central leadership had huge confidence in dada (Sarma) and that's why Guwahati was chosen to house the MLAs," said a source in Assam BJP.

After the Maharashtra saga, allegations were levelled that the Assam CM was trying to poach Congress MLAs in Jharkhand. Speculation is also rife of Sarma's hand in the defection of Congress MLAs in Goa, including heavyweight Digambar Kamat.

For the past month, Sarma has also been taking on the opposition at the national level. He had recently questioned AAP national convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on his party's claims of success in the education sector and tweeted a satire video on Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo yatra.

"Congress Party is not even hiding its true intentions. In the garb of 'Bharat Jodo', it is indulging in 'Bharat Todo'. India will not forgive them for their intentions of hurting nationalists!" he tweeted.

Sarma also seems have to occupied opposition mind-space, with Congress leader Jairam Ramesh recently saying: "There is not a single case against him (Sarma). But when he was in Congress, the BJP used to attack him every day. Now the BJP is completely silent."

A source in Assam BJP said: "Dada has very good relations with all Chief Ministers in the Northeast. Now almost all problems are solved. Now it seems the central leadership also wants to utilise him nationally."

Speaking to News18, Ashok Singhal, minister in Sarma's cabinet, said: "He was always in the national loop as NEDA chairman and now he is definitely playing an important role. We are proud that somebody from the Northeast is playing a vital role in national politics."

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first published:September 16, 2022, 14:28 IST
last updated:September 16, 2022, 14:28 IST
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