Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies are in a strong position in as many as 103 of the state’s 126 Assembly constituencies ahead of the elections expected in March–April. However, he maintained that it would be premature to draw firm conclusions as alliance negotiations and seat-sharing arrangements are yet to be finalised.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme in Dimoria, Kamrup Metropolitan district, Sarma said the BJP’s electoral prospects had improved significantly following the delimitation exercise completed in 2023. According to him, the party’s winning potential has risen from around 90 seats earlier to 103 seats now, an increase he attributed directly to the redrawing of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituency boundaries without any change in the total number of seats.
The chief minister said that while the BJP-led alliance was confident of strong performance in 103 constituencies, there were around 22 seats where the party would contest without necessarily expecting victory. He added that the final outcome would depend on voters, whether the alliance secured close to all seats or ended up winning 80 to 90 per cent of them.
During the interaction, Sarma also took a swipe at Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, remarking sarcastically that the opposition leader seemed overly focused on him. Referring to Gogoi’s elite background, the chief minister said he found it amusing to be accorded such importance by the Congress leadership.
Commenting on a recent poll projection that indicated a third consecutive term for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Assam, Sarma reiterated that the timing was not right for electoral predictions. He noted that neither the NDA nor the opposition alliance had finalised their partners or clarified seat-sharing plans. While acknowledging that the projection appeared favourable to the BJP, he said the political picture would become clearer by February.
An NGO, People’s Pulse Research Organisation, in its first tracker poll for the 2026 Assam Assembly elections, has projected that the BJP could win between 69 and 74 seats, significantly ahead of the Congress, which is estimated to secure between 25 and 29 seats.
Currently, the BJP holds 64 seats in the Assam Legislative Assembly. Its allies — the Asom Gana Parishad, United People’s Party Liberal and Bodoland People’s Front — have nine, seven and three MLAs respectively. In the opposition, the Congress has 26 legislators, the All India United Democratic Front has 15, the CPI(M) has one MLA, while Raijor Dal is represented by one Independent legislator.
