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7 Opposition parties to contest 2026 Assam assembly polls together: Gaurav Gogoi
Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi said this was the first such meeting of the parties to come to an understanding ahead of the 2026 assembly polls
GUWAHATI: Seven Opposition parties in Assam on Wednesday agreed to contest the next year’s assembly polls in the state unitedly to defeat the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies, Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi said on Wednesday.
“Today we took part in an important exchange of ideas. We were planning to have such a meeting for a long time… We are together to rid the people of Assam from the BJP’s harassment and injustices perpetrated by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the next elections,” Gogoi said at the end of the meeting.
Apart from the Congress, the meeting was attended by Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI (ML), and Anchalik Gana Morcha.
A prominent opposition party, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) was not part of the deliberations.
Gogoi didn’t disclose details of the discussions, asserting that more interactions would be held in the future.
“This was the first such meeting of our parties to come to an understanding ahead of the next assembly polls. I am confident that we will fight the election unitedly against the BJP and oust it from power,” said Raijor Dal MLA Akhil Gogoi.
Assam Jatiya Parishad president Lurinjyoti Gogoi said the meeting was a positive development and would convey a strong message to the BJP and its allies, as well as to the general public.
Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma brushed aside the effort, stressing that the people of the state have seen such attempts by the Opposition in the past four and a half years, and these were repeated “like a TV serial”.
“They come together, have tea at a hotel, embrace each other when they leave the place, and then they accuse each other of betrayal. Such things don’t happen with the BJP and its NDA allies,” the CM said.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, had attempted to come together ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but were unable to decide on fielding common candidates for the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam.
The BJP has 64 lawmakers in the 126-member state assembly. Its allies AGP has 9 MLAs, UPPL has 7 and BPF has 3 members. The Congress’ has 26 legislators, AIUDF has 15 members and CPI(M) has one MLA. There is one Independent legislator also.
