Congress to contest 100 seats in Assam, forges alliance with five parties

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi on March 21 announced that the Congress will contest 100 of the 126 seats in the upcoming Assam Assembly elections as part of a six-party opposition alliance.

Speaking to reporters in Majuli, Gogoi said the alliance includes the Congress, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), Raijor Dal, CPI(M), CPI(ML), and the All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC). He expressed hope that anti-BJP votes would consolidate in favour of the opposition bloc.

“There is an alliance of six opposition parties in Assam. Congress will field its candidates in 100 seats. We are hopeful that the anti-BJP votes will not get divided and that we will remove the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government from power,” Gogoi said.

The Congress on March 20 released its fourth list of seven candidates, taking the total number of declared nominees to 94 so far. The list includes Jayanta Borah, who had quit the BJP in 2024, party spokesperson Bidisha Neog, Youth Congress leader Rohit Pariga, spokesperson Joy Prakash Das, Gyandip Mohan, Pran Kurmi and Rahul Roy.

As part of the seat-sharing arrangement, the Congress has left 11 constituencies for alliance partner Raijor Dal. The agreement between the two parties was announced at a joint press conference by Gaurav Gogoi and Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi on Thursday.

Candidates for the Assam Assembly polls can file their nominations till March 23, with several aspirants expected to submit their papers on Monday, the final day of filing nominations.

The Assam Assembly elections will be held to elect representatives to the 126-member House.

(Inputs from ANI)