E-Paper
Assam Assembly Elections 2026: Gaurav Gogoi leads Congress push for comeback against BJP
Gaurav Gogoi, APCC chief and Jorhat MP, aims for a comeback in the Assembly polls as the chief ministerial candidate against incumbent CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Gaurav Gogoi is the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee chief and a member of parliament from the Jorhat Lok Sabha constituency. Gogoi has been the member of parliament thrice in succession, having been elected to the Lok Sabha first from Kaliabor in 2014, then again in 2019, and finally from Jorhat in 2024.
In the upcoming 2026 Assembly polls in Assam, the Congress hopes to make a comeback with its own candidate, Gaurav Gogoi, as the chief ministerial candidate, while the incumbent Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, seeks another term.
Polling for the election took place on April 9 across all 126 constituencies in the state, with over 2.49 crore voters taking part. This year’s poll is witnessing multi-cornered contests because of the split between Congress and AIUDF, with Jalukbari, Dispur, and Jorhat being some of the main constituencies.
Also Read: Assembly election 2026: Assam records over 85% polling
5 key facts about Gaurav Gogoi
- Born in Delhi, Gaurav Gogoi is the son of Tarun Gogoi, who served as Assam’s longest-serving Chief Minister from 2001 to 2016. He completed his B.Tech from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and later pursued a Master’s degree in Public Administration from New York University.
- In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Gaurav Gogoi won from Jorhat against the sitting BJP candidate Topon Kumar Gogoi with over 7.5 lakh votes and a margin of more than 1.4 lakh votes, marking a strong electoral performance.
- Gogoi has been an active member of various standing committees of the parliament, including Defence, Railways, and Finance. As a Congress MP, Gogoi has been actively involved in various discussions within the parliament, and he even opposed the passage of bills like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) due to its implications on Assam.
- In 2025, he was appointed as the president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, taking charge ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. Since then, he has focused on strengthening the party at the grassroots level and working towards a revival of the Congress in the state.
- Gaurav Gogoi has also been at the centre of a political controversy after Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma accused the Gogoi family of having ties with organizations based in Pakistan, prompting a government inquiry into the matter in 2025. Gogoi called the allegations politically driven, and while no formal charges have been made, the issue remains a point of political debate.
