With the Election Commission of India announcing the dates for holding elections to the Legislative Assemblies of five states – Assam, West Bengal, Keralam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry – on Sunday, the countdown for a crucial event of the most vibrant democracies of the world has begun. As far as Assam is concerned, it will be the most exciting Assembly election in recent times, especially with the BJP-led alliance seeking its third consecutive term and the one headed by Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma seeking its second in a row. The Congress party, which had performed a hattrick by clinching three consecutive wins in 2001, 2006 and 2011 under the leadership of Tarun Gogoi, despite being the largest opposition party, has already proved itself to be reasonably weak when it announced its decision to form an alliance with a couple of small regional groups and the Left parties in order to take on the ruling alliance. For the BJP-led alliance, it is clear that it will fight the election on two major issues – development and protection of the indigenous communities from the dangerous demographic threat posed by the immigrants having roots in erstwhile East Bengal/Pakistan and present-day Bangladesh. As far as the Congress is concerned, it does not practically have anything to talk about development. The huge amount of funds allocated and released by the Centre in the past ten years to Assam and the Northeastern region is simply mind-boggling. Even the strongest critic of the present government will admit that Assam has experienced unprecedented development in the past ten years. Equally important to note is the way corruption has been brought down to zero in government recruitments. The story of Assam’s transformation and development under PM Modi’s leadership, with Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on the driver’s seat in Dispur, in fact has become a much talked about story at the all-India level. Given his scenario, the opposition Congress will have to work overtime and put in extraordinary efforts to keep itself floating in the high-voltage election campaign that the BJP-led alliance has already mounted. As far as the Congress is concerned, its top leaders at the national level, including its president, do not appear to have a proper understanding of Assam’s burning issues, as well as its culture and society. The Congress president, for instance, is on record ridiculing Bhupen Hazarika when the NDA government had conferred the Bharat Ratna on him a few years ago.