BJP will oust Congress from power in Assam: Sarbanand Sonowal

New Delhi, Jan 28: Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who was today appointed as BJP's chief ministerial candidate for Assam, expressed confidence that the party would dethrone the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government from the state.

"I am confident that the BJP will defeat the Congress in the coming assembly election and will make history in Assam," he told PTI, hours after the BJP Parliamentary Board announced the decision.

Election to the 126 member Assam assembly will be held in April-May. Sonowal said that corruption was at its peak in Assam while there has been little development during the 15 years of Congress rule in the state.

"We will provide a corruption-free, development oriented government to the people of Assam," he said.

The Union Minister for Sports expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and other members of the BJP Parliamentary Board for bestowing him with the key responsibility.

"With the blessings of the Prime Minister and other leaders, the BJP will win the assembly election in Assam," he said.

BJP had won 7 Lok Sabha seats, out of 14, in Assam in 2014 when Sonowal was the state unit president.

Earlier, the BJP parliamentary board made the decision in an hour-long meeting attended among others by Modi and Shah.

The decision, which is a departure from BJP's usual practice of not naming a leader for state elections, reflects a strategic shift in the party's approach to contesting state polls after ignoring state leadership and excessive focus on central leaders was blamed by many for its debacle in Bihar.

PTI