NDA leaders meet Assam Guv at Lok Bhavan, stake claim to form govt

Leaders of the NDA on Sunday met Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya and staked claim to form the government in the state led by Chief Minister-elect Himanta Biswa Sarma. It will be the third successive NDA government in Assam, with the saffron party-led administration first assuming power in 2016, which was headed by Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

Leaders of the NDA on Sunday met Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya and staked claim to form the government in the state led by Chief Minister-elect Himanta Biswa Sarma. It will be the third successive NDA government in Assam, with the saffron party-led administration first assuming power in 2016, which was headed by Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Sarma, who became chief minister in 2021, is also set to make history by becoming the only non-Congress CM to assume office for two successive terms. Union Minister J P Nadda and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, appointed as BJP's central observer and co-observer respectively, also went to Lok Bhavan along with Sarma and other NDA leaders, an official said. ''The NDA leaders submitted their claim to form the government. The Governor has received their application, signed by all the three constituent parties,'' he said. The NDA also comprises the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) in Assam. Earlier in the day, Sarma was elected as the leader of the BJP-led NDA in the Assam assembly. The NDA had secured a two-thirds majority in the assembly polls. The BJP bagged 82 seats, while its allies AGP and BPF won 10 each, in the 126-member House.