Gaurav Gogoi rules out Congress–AIUDF alliance for Assam Assembly polls

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Gaurav Gogoi on January 18 made it clear that the party will not enter into any electoral understanding with the All India United Democratic Front for the 2026 Assembly elections, drawing a firm line against a tie-up with the Badruddin Ajmal-led party.

Addressing public meetings in the Hajo–Sualkuchi constituency, Gogoi said the AIUDF’s poor performance in the last Lok Sabha elections had exposed the weakness of its electoral base. Any assumption that the party could cross the Assembly threshold by aligning with the Congress, he added, was “entirely misplaced”.

The Congress, Gogoi said, is instead working to stitch together a broader opposition platform similar to the arrangement forged for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls—one that deliberately excluded the AIUDF.

Turning his focus to the state government, Gogoi accused Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of failing to honour key commitments, including the promise of Scheduled Tribe status to six communities. He described Sarma as the “most dishonest” chief minister Assam has seen and alleged that the chief minister had accumulated wealth in the names of family members. The Congress, he said, would confiscate illegally acquired assets if voted to power.

Gogoi also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of deepening social divisions along religious, linguistic and ethnic lines, arguing that such politics benefits individuals rather than the state’s development. Calling for public support to build a “Bor Asom” (greater Assam), he said the Congress aimed to restore social harmony and prioritise the poor, as was done during the tenure of former chief minister Tarun Gogoi.

Former state Congress president Bhupen Kumar Bora, who accompanied Gogoi, echoed the criticism and said the BJP had failed to deliver on the promises that brought it to power.