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Published : 12 May 2026, 05:05 PM
Himanta Biswa Sarma has taken oath as chief minister of the Indian state of Assam for the second term on the trot, according to NDTV.
Four ministers, including leaders from key National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies, were also sworn in as the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP-led government assumed office for a third consecutive term in Assam on Tuesday, the Indian broadcaster said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended the oath-taking ceremony in Guwahati.
The BJP emerged as the dominant force with 82 seats alone as the alliance came victorious in 102 constituencies in the 126-member Assam Legislative Assembly.
Its allies -- the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) -- won 10 seats apiece.
Himanta is seen as one of the architects of BJP's rapid growth in India's northeast, says a BBC report.
The Hindu nationalist party’s vote share in the northeastern Indian state remained less than 12 percent until a decade ago.
But it came to power there in 2016 and has retained control since then, with the vote share soaring to 38 percent.
Himanta was a Congress leader and a minister in the state government led by former chief minister Tarun Gogoi.
Himanta joined the BJP in 2015 and was first elected the chief minister in 2021.
On Apr 30, Bangladesh summoned India’s acting high commissioner over “insulting” comments by Himanta over pushbacks into Bangladesh.
The diplomatic tension follows a post by Himanta on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Apr 26.
Known for his hardline rhetoric, Himanta shared photos of 20 individuals allegedly being pushed back into Bangladesh.
He captioned the post with a Hindi proverb, which roughly translates to "those who deserve a kicking do not listen to reason".
"Rude people don't understand soft language. We continuously remind ourselves of this prophetic line when we expel infiltrators from Assam who don't leave themselves. For instance, these 20 illegal Bangladeshis who were PUSHED BACK last night," Himanta wrote in the post on X.
Assam "will fight" and pushbacks "will continue", the chief minister wrote.
Opposition parties and rights groups have accused the BJP's state government of targeting minorities, particularly Bengali-speaking Muslims, reports BBC.
Himanta’s policies linked to Islamic schools and child marriage have stirred political controversies, it adds.
An AI-generated video shared by the state BJP unit earlier this year appeared to show him firing at images of political opponents wearing Muslim skull caps.
The video was later deleted, but it garnered criticism from opposition parties and civil society groups.
