Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Gaurav Gogoi on January 18 firmly ruled out any electoral understanding with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) for the 2026 Assam Assembly elections, making it clear that the Congress will not align with the Badruddin Ajmal-led party under any circumstances.
Addressing public gatherings in the Hajo–Sualkuchi constituency, Gogoi said the AIUDF’s performance in the most recent Lok Sabha elections had clearly demonstrated the limitations of its electoral strength. He asserted that the belief that the party could improve its prospects by tying up with the Congress was fundamentally flawed. Instead, he said, the Congress is focused on building a wider opposition coalition on the lines of the alliance formed for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, from which the AIUDF was consciously kept out.
Shifting his attack to the BJP-led state government, Gogoi accused Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of repeatedly failing to fulfil key promises made to the people of Assam. He cited the unresolved issue of granting Scheduled Tribe status to six communities as a major example of what he called the government’s dishonesty. Gogoi described Sarma as the “most dishonest” chief minister the state has witnessed and alleged that large amounts of wealth had been accumulated in the names of the chief minister’s family members. He said a Congress government would take action to seize assets acquired through illegal means.
Gogoi further accused the BJP of deliberately fuelling divisions based on religion, language and ethnicity, arguing that such politics serve personal interests rather than Assam’s long-term development. Calling for public support to build a “Bor Asom” or greater Assam, he said the Congress aimed to revive social harmony and refocus governance on the welfare of the poor, recalling the approach followed during the tenure of former chief minister Tarun Gogoi.
Former Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Bora, who was present at the meetings, backed Gogoi’s remarks and said the BJP had failed to live up to the promises on the basis of which it had come to power, leaving people disillusioned with the current regime.
