GUWAHATI: A student’s ambition, spoken lightly in the corridors of Cotton College. A chief ministership imagined in youth. Himanta Biswa Sarma turned that early hint into a political fact in 2021. Five years on, the Assam CM has delivered his most emphatic proof yet — a decisive 2026 mandate that pushes BJP well past the halfway mark of 64 in the 126-member assembly, securing a third straight term for NDA without reliance on allies.For the first time, the election revolved around Sarma — endearingly called ‘Mama’ — not as a backroom tactician but as the face of the campaign. The shift was unmistakable. The outcome, resounding.In the previous two assembly contests, BJP stalled at 60 seats and leaned on partners. This time, it surged ahead on its own strength. The victory cements Sarma’s position as the central force in Assam’s politics, a 57year-old operator who has fused administrative control with political messaging.His appeal cut across Assam. Welfare delivery — direct benefit transfers, womencentric schemes — combined with visible infrastructure projects to blunt anti-incumbency. The campaign’s cadence was sharp, often combative, and tightly aligned with BJP’s national brass.Sarma credited PM Modi, Union minister Amit Shah, and BJP chief Nitin Nabin for the victory. He called the mandate “historic and unprecedented”, deflecting personal credit. “The election was fought on the face of the PM and BJP workers. I am also a BJP karyakarta,” he said.Jalukbari — a seat he has held since 2001 — reaffirmed that connection. While Sarma crisscrossed the state, his wife anchored the campaign at home, reinforcing local ties. The result was overwhelming: a margin of nearly 90,000 votes over Congress candidate Bidisha Neog.The campaign was not without friction. Sarma’s rhetoric on illegal immigration of Bengali-speaking Muslims drew criticism outside Assam, branded by some as hate speech. Within the state, it resonated with a section of voters who see Muslim immigrants — labelled as ‘Miya’ and estimated by govt at more than one crore — as an enduring fault line tied to identity and land.That theme is set to continue. Sarma announced eviction drives from forests and govt land would intensify. “In the last tenure we cleared 1.5 lakh bigha of illegally occupied land. This will increase this time,” he said.Sarma’s trajectory explains the moment. From student politics in Aasu to a key Congress member under CM Tarun Gogoi, he built his reputation across finance, health, and education portfolios. A fallout with Congress in 2015 triggered his switch to BJP, catalysing a political realignment that ended Congress’ 15-year unbroken tenure in 2016.As convenor of the NorthEast Democratic Alliance, he expanded BJP’s reach across the region before taking charge as CM in May 2021.What sets this victory apart is ownership. No longer the strategist behind the curtain, Sarma stood at the centre — message, machine, and mandate converging around him.
