Sarma set to become Assam CM, ancestral village rejoices

Excitement gripped Latima village in Assam's Nalbari district on Sunday after it became clear that BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma is going to be the next chief minister of the state.

Latima is Sarma's ancestral village where he spent his childhood and growing up days.

His paternal uncle Dandapani Sarma, who takes care of the ancestral home, said that the leader recently renovated the house which he often visits.

''He came here even before the assembly election,'' Dandapani Sarma said.

The father of the chief minister-elect Kailash Nath Sarma had moved to Guwahati and settled there.

His mother and Assam Sahitya Sabha vice-president Mrinalini Sarma also regularly comes to the village, said Prabhat Sarma, another uncle of the convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) - the NDA's version in the region.

Assam Sahitya Sabha is a prestigious literary body of the state.

Happy that a son of Latima is becoming the chief minister of the state, village headman Painur Ali said that Sarma had taken the initiative to set up in the village the Nalbari Medical College and Hospital which is nearing completion.

Latima residents are also hopeful that speedy development will come to their village, as well as the state, under Sarma's leadership.

Ending days of speculations, Sarma on Sunday was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP Legislature Party and the NDA Legislature Party, clearing the stage for him to become the chief minister of the only non-Congress government returning to power in the state for the second consecutive term.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)