India, April 12 -- Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has already emerged as the Bharatiya Janata Party's undisputed leader in the north-east, including the nearby states of West Bengal and Jharkhand, is now consolidating that position with a calibrated push towards a wider national, pan-India role.

The BJP first came to power in Assam in 2016 and retained it in 2021, when Sarma took oath as Chief Minister for the first time. If the party returns to power on 4th May, as is widely expected within party circles, it would mark a third consecutive term for the BJP in the state and a second term for Sarma as Chief Minister. That continuity is central to his current political positioning and to the expansion of his influence beyond ...