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BJP names Sonowal as Assam CM candidate

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday declared Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal its Chief Ministerial candidate for the Assam Assembly polls, making a departure from its usual practice of not naming a leader for state elections.

The BJP parliamentary board made the decision in an hour-long meeting attended among others by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah, said its general secretary JP Nadda.

"The people of Assam know Sarbananda Sonowal as a 'national hero'. The parliamentary board has decided that the party will fight the Assam polls in his leadership...BJP is going to form its government in Assam," Nadda, accompanied by party's national secretary Shrikant Sharma, said.

The decision reflects a strategic shift in the party's approach to contesting state Assembly elections after ignoring state leadership and excessive focus on central leaders was blamed by many for its debacle in Bihar polls.

Barring the Delhi Assembly polls, during which it had inducted Kiran Bedi into the party at the last minute and made her the CM candidate, BJP has not named a leader for state elections and instead sought votes in Modi's name.
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