Assam Elections: Opposition alliance collapses as Congress announces first candidate list, Jorhat MP Gaurav Gogoi to contest from Jorhat assembly seat

The Congress party on Tuesday, 3rd March, announced its first list of 42 candidates for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections. One of the biggest names on the list is Gaurav Gogoi, who is currently the Deputy Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha and also the president of the Assam Congress unit. The Jorhat MP will contest from the Jorhat Assembly seat. Senior leader Ripun Bora has been fielded from Barchalla.

This will be the first time that Gaurav Gogoi, who is an MP from the Jorhat Lok Sabha constituency and serves as the party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, will fight an Assembly election. After the announcement, Gogoi shared a post on X saying he was thankful for the opportunity. He expressed gratitude to party president Mallikarjun Kharge, CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. He also thanked the people of Jorhat, saying he would not have reached this position without their support.

“I am grateful to the people of Jorhat Lok Sabha, without whom I would not have reached this position,” he added.

Other key candidates

Among the other candidates announced by the party, Abhijit Paul is going to contest from Silchar, Indraneel Pegu from Majuli, and Mira Borthakur Goswami from Dispur. Interestingly, the list also includes some political families. Congress MP Rakibul Hussain’s son, Tanzil Hussain, will contest from Samaguri. MP Pradyut Bordoloi’s son, Prateek, has been given a ticket from Margherita. Former Union minister Paban Singh Ghatowar’s son, Pranjal, will contest from Chabua-Lahowal.

Other candidates include Girish Baruah from Bongaigaon, Mahananda Sarkar from Barpeta (SC), Ramen Singh Rabha from Boko-Chaygaon (ST), Nandita Das from Hajo-Sualkuchi (SC), and Satyabrat Kalita from Kamalpur. The party has also named Ashok Kumar Sarma from Nalbari and Ratul Patuwary from Tihu. In central and Upper Assam, candidates include Binanda Kumar Saikia from Sipajhar, Bubul Das from Jagiroad (SC), Nurul Huda from Rupahihat, and Utpal Bania from Raha (SC).

Congress declines opposition alliance

With the publication of the candidate list, Congress effectively ended the debate over much-talked opposition alliance in Assam. By announcing candidates for constituencies being demanded by Raijor Dal and Assam Jatiya Parishad, the party has made it clear that it is not entering into alliances with them. Notably, the two parties had been pressurising the Congress for an opposition seat-sharing agreement, with Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi repeatedly issuing deadlines for finalisation of the alliance. However, Gourav Gogoi and other Congress leaders had indicated that the party does not want to ally with him.

After Congress announced the list, Akhil Gogoi called it unfortunate, saying that Congress has shown its undemocratic nature by unilaterally announcing its candidate list while the alliance talks were underway. Raijor Dal has only one MLA in the current assembly, Aklhil Gogoi, while Lurinjyoti Gogoi-led Assam Jatiya Parishad does not have a single MLA at present.

As the BJP-AGP has consolidated its position in around 100 majority-dominated seats among the 126 seats, Congress and its potential allies, and AIUDF, are concentrating on only the minority-dominated seats. This is one of the reasons why Congress didn’t want an alliance, as there are not too many seats available to share.

Elections likely in March-April

Elections for the 126-member Assam Legislative Assembly are likely to take place in either March or April 2026. This announcement is yet to come from the Election Commission.

At present, the BJP-led NDA holds a majority in the Assembly. The BJP has 64 MLAs and support from its alliance parties, namely AGP, UPPL, and BPF. In contrast, the opposition parties are Congress with 26 MLAs, AIUDF with 15 MLAs, CPI(M) with 1 MLA, and 1 MLA from the Independents category. In the last elections held in 2021, the BJP alliance came back to power with 75 MLAs, whereas the Congress alliance could win 50 MLAs.

Written by OpIndia Staff
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