Nadda, Saini arrive in Guwahati to oversee BJP legislature party on May 10

Union Minister J P Nadda and Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini arrived in Guwahati on Saturday evening to oversee the election of the leader of the BJP legislature party in the Assam Assembly on May 10, who will also be the next chief minister of the state.

Union Minister J P Nadda and Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini arrived in Guwahati on Saturday evening to oversee the election of the leader of the BJP legislature party in the Assam Assembly on May 10, who will also be the next chief minister of the state. The newly-elected MLAs are scheduled to meet at the state party headquarters here on Sunday morning to elect the new leader, a BJP spokesperson said. The BJP-led NDA had swept to a third successive term in the state with a two-thirds majority. The BJP secured 82 seats, while its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People's Front (BPF) won 10 each, in the 126-member state Assembly. ''The MLAs of the party will meet at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bhawan tomorrow and elect the new leader of the legislature party. Nadda ji and Saini ji will be present as central observer and co-observer respectively,'' he said. The spokesperson further said a meeting of the legislature parties of the NDA partners will be held at the same venue immediately after the BJP MLAs' meeting. The AGP, which already had the meeting of its newly elected MLAs, had proposed the name of Himanta Biswa Sarma for the position of chief minister. Outgoing CM Sarma had said on Friday that after the BJP leader is elected, it will be ratified by AGP and BPF, following which the new leader will meet the governor to stake claim to form the government. The new government will be sworn in on May 12 at 11 am in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added. Sarma on Wednesday tendered his resignation to Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya, who asked him to continue as the head of the caretaker government till the swearing-in of the next government.