NEW DELHI: With just about three months remaining before the Assam Assembly elections, the political atmosphere in the state is heating up, as both the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition step up their preparations. While the NDA appears largely settled on alliance coordination and seat-sharing, the opposition camp is facing growing unease and uncertainty following the Congress party’s early announcement on the number of seats it intends to contest.
Sources familiar with the developments told The Sunday Guardian that as polling day approaches, the opposition is struggling to project a united front due to unresolved seat-sharing talks. Tensions surfaced after Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi publicly stated that the Congress would contest more than 100 of the state’s 126 Assembly seats, leaving the remainder for its allies. The declaration has unsettled several partners and laid bare cracks in the opposition’s unity narrative.
Notably, efforts to forge a broad opposition alliance had gained momentum under former state Congress chief Bhupen Borah. However, sources indicate that this momentum has slowed since Gaurav Gogoi assumed charge. With fewer than 100 days left before the likely March-April election window, no formal seat sharing agreement has been finalised. Gogoi’s unilateral statement has further complicated negotiations within an alliance that was already considered fragile.
In contrast, the ruling NDA appears to be on firmer ground. The BJP, along with its allies the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and key Bodoland-based parties such as the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) and the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) is believed to have reached broad consensus. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has repeatedly asserted that the NDA remains cohesive and strong, indicating that all alliance partners will be allotted a “respectable number of seats”. BJP leaders say the seat-sharing formula is likely to broadly mirror the arrangement used in the 2021 Assembly elections.
Within the opposition, responses to the Congress announcement have ranged from unease to open criticism. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said that while defeating the BJP remains the top priority, the Congress leadership appeared to have contradicted its own stated principles. He noted that Gaurav Gogoi had earlier maintained that alliance and seat sharing discussions should not be conducted publicly, but had now departed from that stance.
Akhil Gogoi emphasised that the struggle against the BJP and the RSS was more important than the number of seats contested by any single party. He accused the ruling dispensation of damaging the country’s social fabric through communal and authoritarian politics, and argued that alliance politics cannot be driven by unilateral decisions or imposed terms. While expressing discomfort over the public declaration of seat numbers, he reiterated that the opposition alliance is founded on trust, dialogue and mutual understanding, and maintained that all parties would continue to contest the elections together. The CPI(M) has also expressed surprise at the Congress’s move.
State committee secretary Suprakash Talukdar said formal seat-sharing discussions have yet to begin, although bilateral talks among parties are ongoing. He stressed that alliance-related decisions should emerge from consultations and negotiations rather than public pronouncements, adding that seat-sharing must be finalised either bilaterally or through collective discussions among all partners.
A political analyst told The Sunday Guardian that if the Congress were to contest more than 100 seats as announced, the remaining alliance partners combined—including the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), Raijor Dal, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML), other Left parties and the APHLC—would be left with fewer than 26 seats. This, the analyst said, highlights the opposition’s core challenge: balancing calls for unity with electoral arithmetic, regional aspirations and mutual trust. According to the analyst, seat-sharing has emerged as the opposition’s most pressing hurdle, with the proposed arrangement appearing heavily skewed in favour of the Congress. Several partners had earlier sought early and transparent negotiations to avoid confusion and mistrust, making the unilateral announcement appear premature.
