Guwahati: At a first Asom Gana Parishad legislature party meeting on Wednesday, the elected members of BJP’s regional ally proposed Himanta Biswa Sarma’s name for chief minister to lead the state govt for a second straight term. AGP president Atul Bora was unanimously chosen as its legislature party leader.The meeting of the 10 newly elected AGP legislators took place at the party headquarters in Ambari, Guwahati. AGP working president Keshab Mahanta was named deputy leader. Party general secretary Tapan Das was appointed secretary of the legislative party, while Dharmeswar Roy was elected chief whip.In a statement, AGP said the meeting proposed Sarma’s name for chief minister, citing his “visionary thinking, unparalleled wisdom and dynamic leadership”, which the party said ushered in a new phase of rapid and all-round development in Assam over the last five years. Senior party leaders and MPs Birendra Prasad Baishya and Phani Bhushan Choudhury attended the meeting as observers.“In today’s AGP legislature party meeting, the elected members proposed the name of able leader Himanta Biswa Sarma unanimously for the chief minister’s chair for his leadership in bringing a wave of development and growth in every part of the state in the last five years,” Bora said.Bora said all elected members resolved to work for fast-paced development in their constituencies and across the state, while making wholehearted efforts to fulfil the long-pending demands of Assam’s indigenous people. AGP was formed after a six-year-long anti-foreigners movement in the state (1979-85) against illegal influx and for safeguarding the rights of indigenous tribes and communities.AGP has been an alliance partner of the BJP-led govt in Assam since 2016. AGP won 10 of the 26 seats it contested in this election as an NDA ally, which is one more than the nine seats it won in the 2021 assembly polls.After NDA’s win in the 2026 assembly polls, several BJP leaders visited the AGP headquarters, including state BJP president Dilip Saikia, Jayanta Mallabaruah, R Rabindra Raju, Rituparna Baruah, Ashok Bhattarai, Queen Oja and Rekharani Das Boro, in a move aimed at further strengthening the AGP-BJP alliance.
