GuwahatiNovember 13, 2025 10:03 AM IST
First published on: Nov 13, 2025 at 09:39 AM IST
In a renewed bid to forge an anti-BJP regional alliance ahead of the Assembly elections in Assam next year, Congress leaders led by the state AICC-in-charge Jitendra Singh Alwar met other Opposition leaders following a Congress Political Affairs Committee meeting on Wednesday.
Among those present at the meeting were Raijor Dal leader and MLA Akhil Gogoi, Assam Jatiya Parishad leader Lurinjyoti Gogoi, CPI(M) leader and MLA Manoranjan Talukdar, CPI (M-L) leaders, and Independent Rajya Sabha MP Ajit Bhuyan.
Following both meetings, Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi said, “We need a Congress-led government in Assam for the interests of the people. They want relief from Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s leadership, from infamy, divisive politics, and an environment of fear. People want an alternative and Congress has to take the lead for that.”
While Gogoi did not say an alliance has been formalised yet, the other Opposition leaders said that they were hopeful for a tie-up this time.
The CPI(M)’s Manoranjan Talukdar said that he was “100% hopeful” about an alliance, and the AJP’s Lurinjyoti Gogoi said, “Unity has to be our principle.”
However, the relationship between these parties has been a tenuous one. The attempts to stitch up an alliance had begun in 2023 when Bhupen Borah was the Assam Congress chief and they had presented a united front ahead of last year’s Lok Sabha elections. However, this collapsed over seat-sharing ahead of bypolls for some Assembly seats in November. An attempt to revive this alliance earlier this year, ahead of the panchayat polls, again collapsed. This is the third attempt to stitch this alliance together.
The two emergent regional parties, Raijor Dal and AJP are likely to demand the maximum number of seats among the other Opposition parties. While Raijor Dal’s Akhil Gogoi had already announced in September that the party wants to contest 36 seats, an AJP leader said that the party is aiming to contest between 14 and 16 seats, out of 126.
Meanwhile, weighing in on Wednesday’s meeting, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “When Bhupen Borah was the Congress chief we would hear about such meetings every week. They would talk amongst themselves, and then fight amongst themselves. We have been watching this for the last four years. With the elections ahead, we will see more of this now.”