The proposed pre-poll alliance between the Indian National Congress and Raijor Dal in Assam appears to have fallen apart, with Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi formally announcing on Sunday that negotiations between the two parties have broken down after multiple rounds of seat-sharing discussions failed to produce an agreement.
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According to Gogoi, Raijor Dal made significant concessions throughout the negotiation process in an effort to bring Congress on board. The party had initially proposed contesting 27 seats, then reduced its demand to 20, and later brought it down further to 15.
Congress, he said, agreed to offer 13 seats — but only four of those were from Raijor Dal's proposed list.
"Later, we informed them that we were ready to accept all their conditions, but we needed the Dhing LAC," Gogoi said in his statement.
The dispute over the Dhing assembly constituency ultimately proved to be the deal-breaker. Raijor Dal said its insistence on contesting Dhing was non-negotiable, and Congress's refusal to accommodate this demand made a final agreement impossible.
Beyond the seat-sharing impasse, Raijor Dal also pointed to what it described as a deliberate slight. At an APCC press conference held on March 6 — where Congress appeared alongside three other opposition parties — Raijor Dal was reportedly not invited.
The party said the exclusion hurt its "self-esteem" and that the manner in which it was kept out of the meeting was "extremely disrespectful."
Raijor Dal also directed pointed criticism at APCC president Gaurav Gogoi, alleging that his verbal and body language throughout the process did not reflect genuine support for the alliance.
The party said it had made repeated sacrifices to help build a united opposition front against the BJP, but alleged that Congress had attempted to pressure Raijor Dal into accepting its terms rather than working toward a genuinely collaborative arrangement.
With the alliance now effectively dead, Assam's opposition bloc heads into the state elections in a fractured state — a development that could have significant consequences for the anti-BJP vote in several constituencies.