Himanta Biswa Sarma pressures BJP for post of Assam deputy CM

On the eve of Sarbananda Sonowal’s swearing in as Assam’s first BJP chief minister, rumblings have begun in the saffron camp in the northeastern state.

The Himanta Biswa Sarma camp is mounting pressure to make him deputy chief minister and for ministerial berths for three lieutenants, including Pradan Barua, Pallab Luchan Das and Piyush Hazarika. Speculation is also rife that Mr Sarma wants the home portfolio. Mr Sarma, the former “blue-eyed boy” of outgoing CM Tarun Gogoi, had joined the saffron fold in 2015. There were rumours of an argument between Mr Sarma and BJP state in-charge Ram Madhav over the allotment of portfolios in the Sonowal Cabinet at a posh Guwahati hotel on Sunday. A section in the state unit feels that Mr Sonowal will not be able to “handle” Mr Sarma, and suggest that he should be accommodated by the party in the central organisation. Speculation is also rife that Mr Sarma could fill the vacancy from the state in the Union council of ministers that will be vacated by Mr Sonowal, who was minister of state for sports.

Sources revealed both were then called to New Delhi by party president Amit Shah to resolve the issue. There are indications that the BJP leadership may buckle under Mr Sarma’s pressure and end up offering him the deputy chief minister’s post. The BJP’s Assam unit had opposed Mr Sarma’s induction, citing the corruption allegations against him.

Mr Sarma, who was a minister in the Gogoi Cabinet, had left the Congress for the BJP after chief minister Tarun Gogoi tried to subtly project his son Gaurav Gogoi as a possible CM candidate if the Congress was returned to power.

For the BJP, Mr Sarma was a “prize catch” and the signal that has gone to the party rank and file is that Mr Sonowal and Mr Sarma have “equally contributed” to the BJP’s historic victory.

He played a crucial role in the BJP’s tieup with the Bodo People’s Front, an erstwhile ally of the Congress, and persuaded the saffron party to join hands with the AGP.

Some feel it was Mr Sarma’s political acumen that finally helped the BJP storm the Congress citadel and carve out a historic win.

Incidentally, Mr Sarma’s name had cropped up in two of the biggest scandals to surface in Assam in the past five years, that include the Saradha chit-fund scam and the alleged bribery of officials by Louis Berger, an American company. The US firm has pleaded guilty before a court in New Jersey that it had paid bribes in Assam and Goa to get contracts as consultants for water supply projects, submitted details of the bribes paid in India and paid a substantial amount as fine for violating American laws.

Any move to offer Mr Sarma the deputy CM post could also upset senior BJP leaders in the state, who have been seething over the way the central leadership has given “preference” to Mr Sarma over them in the elections.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Rajnath Singh, finance minister Arun Jaitley and other top BJP leaders will go to Guwahati to attend the swearing-in of the party’s first government in the Northeast under Mr Sonowal. The PM will also address a rally after the swearing-in ceremony.