From Student Leader to Assam CM Twice: The Rise of Himanta Biswa Sarma
Himanta Biswa Sarma, who became the Chief Minister of Assam for two consecutive terms on 12 May 2026, was born on 1 February 1969 in Jorhat, Assam. His father Kailash Nath Sarma was an Assamese poet and novelist and mother Mrinalini Devi was a litterateur. Himanta Biswa Sarma graduated from Kamrup Academy Higher Secondary School, Guwahati. He also obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Cotton College, Guwahati and a Master’s degree in Political Science from Guwahati University in 1990 and a Master’s degree in Political Science from Guwahati University in 1992. Sarma also obtained an LL.B. from Government Law College, Guwahati in 1995 and practiced law in the Guwahati High Court for the next five years before being elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2001. In 2006, he obtained a Ph.D. in Political Science from Guwahati University. Regarding his political career, he entered politics while still in college. Sarma served as the General Secretary of the Students’ Union while studying at Cotton College in 1991-92. Sarma’s legislative career began when Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi entrusted him with the state ministries of Agriculture and Planning and Development in 2001. Subsequently, Sarma’s credibility within the party grew, and he was entrusted with more prominent roles, including cabinet ministership, during Gogoi’s second and third terms. During his tenure as Minister of Health and Education, Sarma was highly praised for his strategic skills and actions. He also played a key role in managing the 2011 assembly election campaign, helping the party secure a landslide victory. Following this, Sarma resigned from the Assembly and the Congress party in 2015 due to differences of opinion. Hemanta Biswa Sarma joined the BJP in August 2015. The party entrusted him with the responsibility of forming alliances with other parties in the state and strategizing for the BJP’s victory in the 2016 state elections, the party’s first in the state. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won the election, and Sarma was appointed a cabinet minister, holding key portfolios such as finance, education, and health. In 2021, when the BJP and its allies won the elections for the second consecutive time, Sarma was appointed the 15th Chief Minister of the state. During his tenure as Chief Minister, Assam achieved several significant economic and cultural achievements. Subsequently, in 2026, the BJP won a landslide victory in the assembly elections, returning to power for the third consecutive time, and Biswa Sarma became the Chief Minister of Assam for the second consecutive time.