Union Home Minister Amit Shah has formally launched the party’s preparations for the 2026 Assembly polls.
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier last week chaired the Assam BJP’s core committee meeting in Guwahati during his two-day visit to the State. The meeting has been seen as the formal beginning of the party’s preparations for the 2026 Assembly elections, which are scheduled to be held in mid-May that year. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also shared a photograph of the committee members on social media with the caption: “Team BJP is all set for the big battle.” All 18 members of the newly constituted body attended the meeting, along with Harish Dwivedi, the Assam in-charge.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Shah said, “Chaired the Assam BJP’s core committee meeting at the state BJP HQs in Guwahati. Under the leadership of PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji, the Himanta Biswa Sarma government is fulfilling the aspirations of the people of Assam. Each and every Karyakarta of the BJP should dedicate themselves to building a prosperous Assam.”
The meeting witnessed the presence of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union ministers Sarbananda Sonowal and Pabitra Margherita, BJP national secretary Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, and several senior state ministers including Ashok Singhal.
Earlier, keeping in view the crucial 2026 Assembly elections, the Assam BJP had constituted an 18-member core committee to oversee preparations. The announcement of the committee was made just before Shah’s visit to the State.
“The committee was formed with the approval of the party’s national president J.P. Nadda ji,” State BJP president and Lok Sabha MP Dilip Saikia said, adding that Shah’s presence had brought “encouragement and inspiration” to the party’s rank and file.
According to party leaders, “The committee’s main role will be to frame the overall strategy, ensure coordination among different units, and mobilise grassroots-level workers to strengthen the BJP’s organisational base ahead of the polls.”
Shah’s Assam visit also reaffirmed the BJP’s alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). Leaders of both parties confirmed that they would once again contest the elections together, following the same formula as 2021 when the BJP secured 60 seats and AGP won nine, enabling them to cross the majority mark in the 126-member Assembly.
On the second day of his trip, Shah inaugurated the new Raj Bhavan in Guwahati and later addressed the NDA’s Panchayat Pratinidhi Sabha, symbolically blowing the poll bugle. The event came after the BJP-led NDA’s impressive performance in the panchayat elections held in May, where the alliance won 301 of the 397 zila parishad constituencies and 1,445 of the 2,188 anchalik panchayat constituencies.
During his address, Shah highlighted the Modi government’s push for development in Assam while sharply targeting the Congress. He described Rahul Gandhi’s Vote Adhikar Yatra as an “Infiltrator Bachao Yatra” and asserted, “The more abuses Congress leaders hurl, the more the lotus will bloom and rise.”
A political analyst tracking Assam closely told The Sunday Guardian that with assembly elections only months away, the BJP is determined to repeat—and even exceed—its 2021 success. He noted that the BJP is relying on both its alliance with the AGP and the popularity of the Sarma government, and has already begun groundwork across the State. He further explained that Assam holds strategic importance for all political parties as it is seen as the “gateway to the Northeast.” With the BJP having recently lost power in Manipur, the party cannot afford to concede further ground in the region, making Assam the first state it must firmly reclaim in the upcoming elections.
The BJP and its regional allies have set themselves the ambitious target of winning more than 100 out of the 126 Assembly seats in the 2026 polls. At present, the NDA holds 84 seats in the House. Notably, the total strength of the Assam Assembly stands at 126, with 64 seats required for a simple majority. In the last election, the BJP secured 60 seats, the Congress-led coalition was reduced to just 29, while AGP won nine seats and the AIUDF bagged 16.
