PM, Party To Decide Next Assam Chief Minister, Says BJP's Himanta Sarma

Amid campaigning, Himanta Biswa Sarma says as long as "people loved him" nothing else mattered.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP parliamentary board will decide who the next Chief Minister of Assam will be and that was none of his concern, state Cabinet Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said. Expressing confidence at his party's victory in the ongoing Assembly polls, he downplayed the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) and its chief, Hagrama Mohilary's, ability to influence things. The next two of the 3-phase election will be held on April 1 and 6, with the results to be declared on May 2. Amid campaigning in Udalguri district's Kalaigaon, where he was even seen dancing with people, the Assam Finance Minister, who is also the BJP's pointsperson for the entire northeast region, told NDTV that as long as "people loved him" nothing else mattered. "My closeness with the people of Assam is extremely high. You stay here for two days and then you will understand," Mr Sarma, who is also the state's Health, Education, Planning, and Public Works Minister, told NDTV. "If people keep loving me like this, then I have no tension…People know that I will do what I have to do…they trust me a lot," he said.