NDA 3.0: Himanta begins his second term as Assam chief minister

Prabin Kalita / TNN / May 12, 2026, 23:37 IST

Comments

Text Size

Small
Medium
Large

NDA 3.0: Himanta begins his second term as Assam chief minister

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday took oath for a second consecutive term in a grand ceremony in Guwahati, which witnessed the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, and senior National Democratic Alliance leaders from across the country.

Guwahati: The BJP-led NDA formally assumed power in Assam for a third consecutive term on Tuesday, with Himanta Biswa Sarma sworn in as chief minister for the second time in a row after securing BJP’s first majority in the house and taking the NDA to a position of strength.Taking blessings of the satradhikars (Vaishnavite monasteries) on the stage, Sarma said on X, “Protecting Sanatan Dharma, Sattra culture, and various tribal faiths in Assam has been, is, and will always remain the top priority of our government,” giving a clear and loud message of the agenda of the NDA 3.0.Sarma also became the fourth CM in state’s history to embark on a second unbroken term, bettering his mentor former Congress CM late Hiteswar Saikia’s two terms, but with breaks.

Watch

Assam CM Race: Himanta Biswa Sarma Front-Runner As BJP Weighs Final Call After Big Win

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, and a galaxy of NDA’s national leaders, foreign ambassadors and envoys and industrialists along with heads of state’s Vaishnavite monasteries.The swearing-in was also witnessed by 12 union ministers, NDA’s 20 CMs and 18 deputy CMs, making it the largest gathering of political leadership. The chief minister’s office in its statement on the function described it as “Guwahati witnesses India’s most powerful gathering.”Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya administered the oath of office to Sarma and four ministers — BJP’s Rameswar Teli and Ajanta Neog, AGP president Atul Bora, and BPF’s Charan Boro, together representing Assam’s tea tribes, women leadership, regional allies, and the Bodo heartland, a carefully calibrated mix that signals Sarma’s intent to balance majority strength with inclusivity.Sarma, attired in traditional dress, took oath in Assamese, calling the moment “extremely emotional” and bowing to the people of Assam for their mandate. He credited Modi’s guidance and Amit Shah’s mentorship for the NDA’s success, while thanking BJP workers for their relentless campaign.In tune with PM Modi’s call for austerity measures, Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang showed the way and travelled to Sarma’s swearing in by Vande Bharat, while defence minister Rajnath Singh and agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan shared a BSF flight.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman took an Air India flight.Modi hailed the occasion as a “great day for Assam,” congratulating Sarma on his second consecutive term.The PM in a post on X said Sarma has made a mark as a ''wonderful administrator and has done pioneering work for the state.”Shah in his post on X said, “Electing the BJP-led NDA for the third consecutive term, the people of Assam have reaffirmed that the BJP-NDA governments are the dispensations of trust. People continue to elect them repeatedly for their track record of accomplishments. In the last ten years the NDA government laid a robust foundation of development and security, on which now a grand edifice of progress will be built.”As BJP president Nitin Nabin put it, the “double-engine government” in Assam will accelerate development, investment, and welfare programmes.The full cabinet formation, expected soon, will be the real measure of how Sarma navigates Assam’s diverse regions and communities while cementing BJP’s dominance.

About the AuthorPrabin Kalita

Prabin Kalita is a journalist at The Times of India and is currently the Chief of Bureau (northeast). He has been reporting in mainstream Indian national media since 2001. He has been a field journalist reporting gamut of issues from India’s northeastern region and major developments in neighbouring countries like Myanmar, China, Bhutan and Bangladesh concerning India and northeastern region. He has been covering insurgency—internal and cross-border, politics, natural calamities, environment etc. He is a post-graduate in Geological Sciences from Gauhati University.

End of Article