T

he Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central leadership summoned on Friday incumbent Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and senior minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to New Delhi. Earlier this week, the party president JP Nadda said the BJP was busy due to the post-poll violence in West Bengal and the decision regarding the chief ministerial post in Assam was delayed. 

Both Mr Sonowal and Mr Sarma have been asked to reach Delhi by 10 am on Saturday. BJP sources said the party wants to discuss the issue in person with both the leaders before taking the final decision. The sources added it was being done to avoid any sort of factionalism in Assam BJP.

The decision has been delayed as the top leadership has been unable to choose between the two top claimants for the chief ministerial post. In West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, where elections were held simultaneously, the chief ministers have already assumed office. After Mamata Banerjee took oath on Wednesday as West Bengal chief minister for the third consecutive term, MK Stalin was sworn-in as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu on Friday.

The party had not decided a chief ministerial candidate before the Assembly polls were held in Assam and had maintained it would take the decision after the elections. The BJP alone won 60 seats and the party-led National Democratic Alliance won 75 seats in the 126-member Assembly.