Ahead of Cabinet reshuffle Assam CM meet HM

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma on Thursday called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. Sharma's visit to New Delhi takes place ahead of a much-anticipated reshuffle of the Union Cabinet. "I had the opportunity to meet Home Minister Amit Shah this afternoon. We discussed various issues concerning the state," said Chief Minister Sarma.

New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma on Thursday called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. Sharma's visit to New Delhi takes place ahead of a much-anticipated reshuffle of the Union Cabinet. "I had the opportunity to meet Home Minister Amit Shah this afternoon. We discussed various issues concerning the state," said Chief Minister Sarma.

His meeting with Shah also assumes significance following the fact that name of former Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has been doing the round as a possible entry into the Modi Cabinet. Sharma is also likely to meet BJP president JP Nadda later in the evening. An official close to the Chief Minister said that the party is taking the opinion of the Assam CM over the induction of Sonowal.

It may be mentioned here that Sonowal gave up the position of Chief Minister following directives from the top party leadership. "There is every possibility that former Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will be inducted into the Union Cabinet. It was Sonowal who led BJP in forming the first-ever government in Assam by defeating Congress in the 2016 Assembly election," the official said.

During his visit to the national capital, Chief Minister Sharma is likely to meet President Ramnath Kovind, Textile Minister Smriti Irani, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi among others. The official said that during his meeting with Home Minister Shah, Sarma also discussed the forthcoming visit of the Home Minister to Assam and Meghalaya this month.

The visit of Sarma to the national capital comes at a time when the Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) in Assam has expressed its desire to reunite with the BJP. BPF snapped its ties with the BJP just ahead of the last Assembly election and fought along with the Congress-led Grand Alliance. "The Chief Minister is likely to discuss the issue of BPF during his meeting with BJP president JP Nadda," said the official.

Significantly, this is Sarma's second official visit to New Delhi after taking over the charge of the Chief Minister. During his last visit, Sarma met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Shipping and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.