Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP's 'face in the north-east' is set to take over as Assam Chief Minister today. In an apparently conciliatory end to the race for the post between him and former CM Sarbananda Sonowal, the latter proposed his name as the Chief Minister at the BJP Legislature Party meeting.

Dr. Sarma's elevation is a recognition of the role he has played in BJP's electoral success in Assam since 2016,  when the party displaced the Congress in the State. Dr. Sarma, who jumped ship from the Congress in 2015 over differences with the then CM Tarun Gogoi, is credited with planning the BJP's electoral strategy in 2016 as well as this year. Dr. Sarma is also the BJP's face in the north-east, leading its growth in the region through the North-East Democratic Alliance, the coalition of parties in the region across States.

 In 2016, the BJP had picked Mr. Sonowal as the CM and placed Dr. Sarma as a powerful second, handling the Finance and Health portfolios. Going into the 2021 elections, however, the BJP had kept its options open by not projecting a CM face — an unusual practice for the party.

Now, an arrangement seems to have been reached in which Dr. Sarma takes the top post. The Hindu's Political Editor Nistula Hebbar cites two reasons for this elevation — Dr. Sarma's handling of the ant-CAA protests in Assam and his role as Health Minister in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the CSDS-Lok Niti post-poll survey notes that Mr. Sonowal still has a considerable lead in popularity among the electorate, though Dr. Sarma has managed to raise his since 2019.

The CSDS-Lok Niti surveys also point to a major Hindu vote consolidation around the NDA alliance. Assam, which has about 35% Muslim population, went through the NRC process and it is also the place where the controversial CAA law could have a considerable fallout. While the NRC and the CAA are on the back-burner now, how they will play out during Dr. Sarma's tenure is what makes this story important.
 

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