Gaurav Gogoi: Assam 2026 Election Is Congress vs Congress, Not Congress vs BJP

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi has put forward a pointed framing of the upcoming 2026 Assam Assembly elections — and it places the BJP squarely inside his own party's history.

Campaigning for Congress candidate Indranil Pegu in the Majuli constituency, Gogoi argued that the real contest is not between two opposing parties, but between two branches of the same political tree.

"This Assembly election in Assam isn't a fight between the Congress and the BJP. It's a Congress-versus-Congress fight," Gogoi said. "One is led by Himanta Biswa Sarma and the other by the ideology of Tarun Gogoi."

Also Read: Jayanta Kumar Das Quits BJP, to Contest Dispur Seat as Independent

Gogoi did not hold back in his characterisation of the ruling party, arguing that the BJP's dominance in Assam has been built largely on the backs of former Congress leaders who switched sides.

"There is no BJP in Assam now. What exists is a Congress under Himanta Biswa Sarma with a BJP label," he said.

It is a claim that carries some factual weight — a significant number of BJP candidates in recent Assam elections were originally Congress figures who crossed over, including Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma himself, who was a senior Congress minister before joining the BJP in 2015.

Turning the narrative around, Gogoi argued that it was the Congress defectors — not the original BJP cadre — who have now damaged the ruling party's standing.

"The Congress deserters gave a clean image to the party. However, the deserters have now tarnished the image of the BJP," he said.

He also pointed to generational momentum swinging back toward the Congress, citing the example of Pradyut Bordoloi's son — whose father had joined the BJP — choosing to contest on a Congress ticket as evidence of that shift.

"Many such youths are inclined to the Congress," Gogoi added.

Majuli is no ordinary constituency. The riverine island seat has been a political battleground since 1972, having seen 11 Assembly elections over five decades.

The Congress won the seat four times, the AGP and BJP three times each, and the Janata Party once. From 2001 to 2011, Congress held Majuli continuously.

The tide shifted in 2016, when then-BJP leader and now Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal wrested the seat from the Congress and held it through 2022. When Sonowal moved to the Rajya Sabha, BJP's Bhuban Gam won the subsequent bye-election.

With the 2026 polls approaching, Congress is hoping candidate Indranil Pegu can end that BJP run — a task Gogoi framed as bigger than politics.

Wrapping up his address in Majuli, Gogoi acknowledged that the BJP had applied pressure on Congress candidate Pegu — but said Pegu had refused to back down.

"The forthcoming election isn't just a political contest. This election is a movement for change," Gogoi said.

Whether that message resonates with Majuli's voters will be one of the more closely watched results when Assam heads to the polls in 2026.