Himanta Biswa Sarma is set to take oath as Assam chief minister on May 12 for the second consecutive term after being unanimously re-elected leader of the BJP-led NDA legislature party on Sunday.

Following the meeting, Sarma met governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya at Lok Bhavan along with leaders of BJP allies AGP and BPF and formally staked claim to form the next government.

The NDA has the support of 102 MLAs in the 126-member Assembly, including 82 from the BJP and 10 each from the Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People's Front.

A Lok Bhavan statement said the governor had invited Sarma to form the government and would administer the oath of office and secrecy to him and members of the council of ministers on May 12.

Before meeting the governor, BJP legislators unanimously elected Sarma as their leader in the presence of Union health minister J.P. Nadda and Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, appointed central observer and co-observer, respectively, by the BJP parliamentary board.

Nadda said eight BJP MLAs — Ranjit Kumar Dass, Biswajit Daimary, Ajanta Neog, Rameswar Teli, Rajdeep Roy, Ashok Singhal, Pijush Hazarika and Chakradhar Gogoi — proposed Sarma’s name for the legislature party leader. AGP and BPF legislators also endorsed his leadership.

The development was expected after the BJP-led alliance retained power for the third consecutive term in the April 9 Assembly elections.

Sarma had spearheaded the alliance campaign, overseen ticket distribution and coordinated seat-sharing with AGP and BPF. The BJP-led alliance first came to power in Assam in 2016, while Sarma became chief minister in 2021.

On Friday, state BJP president Dilip Saikia had already indicated that Sarma would return as chief minister.

A BJP leader said Sarma’s unanimous re-election reflected his influence and acceptance within both the BJP and the NDA alliance. AGP president Atul Bora described the NDA as “fortunate” to have Sarma as its leader.

Reacting to his re-election, Sarma thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi “for reposing his faith in me to serve the people of Assam for the second consecutive time as their Mukhya Sewak”.

He also thanked Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP national president Nitin Nabin and NDA legislators for electing him leader of the legislature party.

“With the blessings of Maa Kamakhya and the support of the people of Assam, I look forward to continuing the journey which our party started in 2016 to serve Aai Asomiya,” Sarma posted on X.

The 57-year-old was first elected to the Assembly from Jalukbari in 2001 as a Congress candidate before joining the BJP in 2015 following a fallout with then chief minister Tarun Gogoi.