Guwahati, May 10 -- Himanta Biswa Sarma was unanimously named as the next chief minister by the newly elected MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF), on Sunday, paving the way for the formation of the next government after the ruling alliance secured a sweeping mandate in the Assembly elections.

All 82 legislators elected Sarma as the leader of the party's legislature party at a meeting held at the BJP state headquarters in Guwahati in the presence of Union minister JP Nadda, the central observer overseeing the process, and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, the co-observer.

The eight BJP MLAs who proposed Sarma's name are Ranjeet Kumar Dass, Ashok Singha...