When Sarbananda Sonowal took oath on Tuesday, May 24, evening as Assam’s Chief Minister, PM Narendra Modi, BJP Chief Amit Shah and chief ministers of 14 states with BJP government in power were all present as a show of strength. The ruling party at the centre, who after a massive majority in general elections had seen defeats in the past year at Delhi and Bihar, is back in the game after the BJP and alliance partners won 86 seats in the 126-member assembly.

It was more a victory rally, and less an oath taking ceremony. PM in his speech thanked the people of Assam, and said, “A leader belonging to the tribal community, a leader dedicated to serving the society will now be the Chief Minister of Assam.” Sonowal too thanked the people and said, “Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians all will work towards a better Assam.”

Sonowal personally invited the former chief minister 80-year-old Tarun Gogoi, and sought his blessings. Among the senior BJP leaders, who attended the event was LK Advani. BJP allies Chandrababu Naidu, Ram Vilas Paswan and Parkash Singh Badal were also there for the grand event. However conspicuous by its absence were Shiv Sena and PDP.