"PM's love for northeast stands out": Sonowal after becoming first member in BJP Parliamentary Board from NE

By Payal Mehta
New Delhi [India], August 17 : After becoming the first leader from the northeastern part of the country to be included in the BJP Parliamentary Board, Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's love for the region stands out, while also thanking the top leadership of the party for the new responsibility.
Earlier today, the BJP announced its rejigged list of the Parliamentary Board as well as the Central election committee which saw the exit of Union minister Nitin Gadkari and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan from the Board while there were some new inductions.
"I am very happy as well as grateful for the responsibility that has been given to me. I will try my best to faithfully discharge the responsibility given to me by the party. I would like to express my gratitude to all my leaders, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Sonowal told ANI.
"Over the last eight years the kind of love, affection and importance that Prime Minister Modi has given to the northeast region is there for everybody to see," he added while mentioning that history has been created with the latest move by the party.
One of the biggest tribal faces of the Modi government, Sarbananda Sonowal began his career with the Asom Gana Parishad from where he joined the BJP under the leadership of former national president Nitin Gadkari.
Sonowal was the Union minister for sports in the first term of the Narendra Modi government from 2014 till 2016. In 2016, it was in his name that the BJP contested the Assam Assembly elections and he went on to become the chief minister. After completing a full term as the chief minister in 2021 when the BJP won for a record second time in the state, Sonowal made way for Himanta Biswa Sarma as the chief minister and was brought to the Centre as a Rajya Sabha member of Parliament and Union minister.
Meanwhile, BJP national president JP Nadda on Wednesday announced that the reconstituted Parliamentary Board filled in all the vacancies that were created after the demise of senior leaders Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, and also after Venkaiah Naidu took over as Vice President of India.
The party has also included veteran Karnataka leader BS Yediyurappa who had only last year resigned as Chief Minister after Basavaraj Bommai was made Chief Minister in his place. Top leaders of the party had even then assured that Yediyurappa will play an active role in the party and his services would be used extensively for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections.