Amid uncertainty over the new state head in Assam, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) top leadership in New Delhi on Friday summoned incumbent chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and senior minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, both claimants for the top post, for meetings, people familiar with the developments said.
The two leaders are scheduled to leave for the national capital on a chartered flight early on Saturday and participate in meetings with senior leaders, they added.
The persons cited above also said that the name of the next chief minister could be announced on Sunday and the oath-taking ceremony be held on Monday.
In some states, where elections took place simultaneously, the new heads have already assumed office. Mamata Banerjee took charge as West Bengal chief minister for a third time on Wednesday while M K Stalin took oath in Tamil Nadu on Friday.
Also read | Five days after election results, Assam yet to get a new CM
In the Union territory of Puducherry, N Rangasamy was sworn in as the chief minister on Friday. The new government under Pinarayi Vijayan in Kerala is likely to assume office in the third week of this month.
{{/usCountry}}In the Union territory of Puducherry, N Rangasamy was sworn in as the chief minister on Friday. The new government under Pinarayi Vijayan in Kerala is likely to assume office in the third week of this month.
{{/usCountry}}In Assam, however, the BJP leadership in Delhi is yet to decide between Sonowal and Sarma for the top post.
“Government formation will happen in due course. Right now, all our focus is on controlling the spread of Covid-19 across the state and saving lives,” Sonowal said on Friday while taking stock of facilities to tackle the disease.
In the polls, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won 75 seats in the 126-member Assembly.
The BJP leadership is yet to send central observers to Assam to interact with the party’s state office-bearers and no official meeting of the 60 newly-elected members have taken place as of yet to choose the new chief minister.
“The delay was initially due to the violence in West Bengal after declaration of results in which the Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers targeted our members. The prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country has also affected the decision on formation of the next government,” BJP spokesperson Rupam Goswami said.
“There’s already a caretaker government in place in Assam and it is functioning well. There’s no difference within the party on the CM’s post and the same will be announced soon,” he added.
The delay in government formation comes at a time when the state is witnessing a spike in Covid-19 cases. On Thursday, Assam recorded 5,626 new positive cases, which was the highest ever single-day figure in the state ever since the pandemic broke out last year. It also recorded 47 deaths on the same day.
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“BJP got a clear and decisive mandate, but still it hasn’t been able to form a government. Especially at a time when the state is going through a difficult time, critical decisions like dates of board examinations and handling of the Covid-19 spike shouldn’t be left to an ad-hoc government,” Congress Lok Sabha MP Pradyut Bordoloi said.
“At present, what was needed was an all-out effort on war footing to check the alarming surge in Covid-19 and community spread of the disease seen in tea-gardens. But the delay exposes the bankruptcy of the BJP’s decision-making process,” he added.
Akhil Ranjan Dutta, professor of political science in Gauhati University, said that the BJP’s defeat in West Bengal could have played a part in delay in announcement of Assam’s next CM.
“The outcome in West Bengal in a way eroded the moral authority of the BJP leadership to dictate or impose decisions in Assam. Therefore, they are taking time and indulging in negotiations as they are worried about a possible revolt,” Dutta said.
“The BJP got its fourth successive poll victory in Assam in this election since the 2014 general elections. But the delay in the government formation process amounts to complete insult to the faith reposed in the party by the voters,” he added.