Himanta Biswa Sarma to form 3rd NDA government in Assam after big BJP win

Sarma will be the first non-Congress chief minister to assume office for two successive terms. The new government will be sworn in on Tuesday; Indian PM Modi expected to attend

PUBLISHED: Sun 10 May 2026, 2:50 PM

By:
Nithin Belle

Assam’s chief minister-elect Himanta Biswa Sarma met state governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya on Sunday morning and staked a claim to form the government.

It will be the third successive National Democratic Alliance government in Assam, which includes besides the BJP, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF).

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The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) won 82 seats in the 126-member house, while its allies won 10 each, giving the NDA a two-thirds majority.

Sarma will be the first non-Congress chief minister to assume office for two successive terms. The first BJP government in Assam in 2016 was headed by Sarbananda Sonowal.

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The new government will be sworn in on Tuesday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to be present along with home minister Amit Shah and several other top BJP leaders. The Congress with five other allies won just 19 seats, its poorest performance since losing the state to the BJP in 2016.

Elected for the first time to the Assam assembly in 2001, Sarma has never lost an election since then. He served as minister in the Congress government of Tarun Gogoi for 15 years, before quitting the party along with many others and joined the BJP.