New Delhi: MLA from Jalukbari since 2001, Himanta Biswa Sarma’s political journey from Assam cabinet minister to the helm of affairs as chief minister marks him as one of the few BJP leaders capable of single-handedly steering the party’s fortunes.
The 2026 assembly poll results have only cemented his position within the BJP.
Termed an astute election manager by party leaders, his strategy of polarising Hindus in a state with 34 percent Muslim population—according to the 2011 Census—seems to have paid off, with the party having won in 15 and leading in leading in 67 seats in the Assam assembly by Monday afternoon. The BJP is poised to better its 2021 performance when it won 60 of 126 assembly seats with 33.21 percent of votes.
His decision to first dump and then align with the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF)—which was part of the Congress-led alliance Mahajot in 2021—also worked in the party’s favour, with the BPF leading in 9 seats.
Sarma has, however, been far from uncontroversial. Just last month, his remark about “pushing back Bangladeshi infiltrators” sparked a diplomatic row, with Dhaka summoning India’s Acting High Commissioner over the comments.
The issue of illegal immigrants has been a focal point in the BJP’s election manifesto in Assam. The party has also been critical of demographic changes that it says have taken place in the state over time through “invasion”.
But what has worked for Himanta is his image of an “unrelenting election machine”.
Months before the Assam polls, the Sarma government’s move to increase financial assistance to women under the Orunodoi scheme proved to be a game-changer, while infrastructure development in the state over a period of time also earned him the moniker of a “dynamic leader” focused on development and progress.
Sarma’s graph within the BJP is clearly on the rise—at a time when the party pressed into action a battery of senior leaders for the high-stakes contest in West Bengal, Sarma emerged as a key campaigner in the national strategy.
After polling concluded in Assam on 9 April, Sarma was seen in active campaign mode for the polls in Bengal in April end.
“His positioning as a leading face in the Bengal campaign underlined both his increasing influence within the party as well as the party’s focus on carrying its governance message beyond its usual strongholds,” a senior BJP leader told ThePrint.
Credited with the BJP’s meteoric rise in Assam over the past decade, Sarma is likely to don the CM’s hat once again, having shouldered the entire election campaign—holding rallies, roadshows, conducting marathon meetings, and even breaking into a spontaneous dance in one rally—that resulted in a hat-trick celebration for the BJP.
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‘Good riddance’
A former Congress leader, Sarma is recognised as the man behind the BJP’s strengthening foothold in the Northeast.
Back in the 1980s, he was part of the anti-foreigners’ agitation led by the All Assam Students’ Union from 1979 to 1985, during which he worked closely with Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, the agitation’s leader who went on to serve as CM, and his associate Bhrigu Kumar Phukan.
Sarma joined the Congress in the 1990s, first contesting from Jalukbari in 2001 and defeated Phukan, who was fighting from Mahanta’s Asom Gana Parishad. He has held on to the Jalukbari seat ever since.
In August 2015, he joined the BJP following differences with the Congress leadership in Assam.
Prior to his entry into politics, Sarma graduated in law from Gauhati University in 1994 and practised in Gauhati High court between 1996 and 2001.
In the past, he also served as convener of the BJP-led North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), a group formed to dislodge the Congress from the region, and is considered the party’s political brain in the region.
A BJP leader pointed out that Sarma—affectionately referred to as “Mama” (maternal uncle) by his supporters—focuses not only on development but Hindutva too.
Sources in the party recalled that though Sarma had played a central role in the 2016 Assam elections, he was not the BJP’s face in the region then. He had to be content with a minister’s post though he had been eyeing the top job for quite some time, and it was one of the reasons he had quit the Congress.
“He was instrumental in the formation of the Manipur government after the 2017 assembly elections and spearheaded the attempt to bring everyone on the same page. He had to content himself with a minister’s post earlier, though he had been eyeing the post of chief minister for quite some time,” said a second senior BJP leader.
Sarma’s single-handed management of the Covid-19 pandemic in Assam brought the focus on him as he emerged as the face of the 2020-2021 crisis.
Many point out that as Sarma started taking centrestage, the imbalance in Assam’s leadership was brought to the fore, with then CM Sarbananda Sonowal playing second fiddle to him.
ThePrint had earlier reported how way back in August 2015, when Sarma joined the BJP, 10 MLAs had followed him. Then Assam CM Tarun Gogoi had given a two-worded response to his exit: “good riddance”.
However, in hindsight that response hasn’t aged well, with Sarma playing a crucial role in helping the BJP gain prominence in Assam as well as emerging as a star campaigner in other parts of the country.
“Apart from PM (Narendra) Modi and (home minister) Amit Shah, if there is a demand for party leaders during elections, it is for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Sarma,” said the second BJP leader.
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Rise to the top
Since joining the party, Sarma has often been viewed as a “hardliner”, often championing the cause of Hindutva especially with his diatribe against “miyas” or Bengali Muslims, his comments on ridding the state of “ghuspethiyas (infiltrators)”, and remarks that have often been described as “anti-minorities”.
Grabbing headlines over policy decisions on regulating madrasas, anti-child marriage drives, and comments on “civilisational clashes” in Assam, Sarma continues to enjoy the Centre’s backing despite the controversies around him.
Speaking to ThePrint, Lok Sabha MP and Assam election in-charge Baijayant Panda, in fact, defended Sarma’s stand on “illegal immigrants”, saying they were an “assault on Assamese culture” and had “invaded” the state.
Sarma has never hidden his political ambitions. He quit the Congress after Tarun Gogoi projected his son Gaurav as the face of Assam’s Congress leadership, leaving no scope for Sarma in the future.
This election, Sarma and Gaurav, now an MP, faced off as the latter was named state Congress chief and contested the assembly polls from Jorhat.
Previously, Sarma had managed the 2006 and 2011 election campaigns for the Congress, helping it form the government in Assam. “Despite this, he was overlooked and it was this and other issues that led him to carve his own path,” said a senior party functionary.
Many attribute the BJP’s 2016 victory in Assam to a great extent to Sarma joining the party. His influence in the party has only increased since–right from engineering its takeover of Arunachal Pradesh from the Congress, to playing an instrumental role in the formation of the Manipur government in 2017 and stitching new alliances in the Northeast.
Controversies
Sarma’s tenure in both the Congress and BJP has had its share of controversies.
In the Congress-led governments, he served in multiple positions, including that of Minister of State for Agriculture, Planning and Development, Finance, Health and Education, from 2002 to 2014. His tenure as minister was mired in allegations of corruption.
Many have also been critical of his “anti-minority” comments. Earlier this year, the BJP’s central leadership itself had to intervene, directing the party’s Assam unit to take down from social media a controversial AI-generated video of Sarma shooting at a photograph of two persons in skull caps, one of them Gaurav Gogoi.
The “hate video” targeting Muslims triggered widespread condemnation and outrage, with multiple complaints filed against the CM in several states. Sarma said he had no information about the particular video but pointed out that his stand against Bangladeshi infiltrators remained the same.
Another controversy unfolded days before voting took place in Assam, with Congress leader Pawan Khera alleging that CM Sarma’s wife held multiple foreign passports. Khera went on to accuse Sarma of indulging in hate politics, targeting Muslims. An FIR was registered against Khera accusing him of defamation and forgery.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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