Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma speaks to the media after filing his nomination for the Jalukbari constituency ahead of the Assam Assembly elections in Guwahati on Friday, March 20, 2026. | Photo credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR
GUWAHATI
A last-minute alliance between the Congress and the Raijor Dal has prompted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to consider fielding a candidate for the Sibsagar Assembly constituency in eastern Assam.
Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi is seeking re-election from Sibsagar, where his position has strengthened after his party joined the Congress-led opposition bloc, which has six political parties, including two from the Left Front.
Soon after filing his nomination papers for the Jalukbari constituency in Guwahati on Friday (March 20, 2026), Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the BJP will hold discussions with ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) about fielding its candidate in Sibsagar.
Sibsagar is one of the 26 seats contested by the AGP. The regional party on Thursday (March 19) declared Prodip Hazarika as its candidate for Sibsagar, who was elected in 2021 from the delimitation-absorbed Amguri constituency.
‘Not much influence’
“Things could have been different if their (Congress-Raijor Dal) friendship had (formed) three or four months ago. Their alliance, so close to the elections, will not have much impact,” Mr Sarma told reporters.
However, he felt that the BJP candidate would be better placed to defeat Mr. Gogoi in Sibsagar than the AGP candidate. “We may put a candidate there depending on how the AGP looks at the scenario,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that the primary objectives of the BJP are to ensure the identity of Assam and to speed up the development works carried out or started in the last five years. He also said that his mission was to bring every Hindu into the BJP fold.
50% Muslim candidates
None of the 88 candidates nominated by the BJP are Muslim, but 50% of the AGP candidates are. Of the 26 candidates proposed by the AGP, 13 are Muslims. These include two MLAs from Barak Valley – Karim Uddin Barbhuiya and Zakir Hussain Laskar – who defected from Maulana Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF).
The AGP’s Muslim candidates are in minority-dominated constituencies largely avoided by the BJP. “More than religion, winning was a factor in choosing our candidates,” said AGP president Atul Bora.
Another BJP ally, the Bodoland People’s Front, has also fielded a Muslim among its 11 candidates. He is Rezaul Karim, fielded from Parbatjhora constituency.
The only party that has fielded more Muslims than the AGP is the AUIDF. He put up candidates for 27 seats and 24 of them are Muslims, which means a representation of almost 89%.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma’s Meghalaya National People’s Party has fielded MLA Mohammed Aminul Islam as one of its three candidates for the April 9 Assam elections. Mr Islam, who left the AIUDF after being denied a ticket, is seeking renomination from the Mankachar seat, which borders Bangladesh.
Published – 20 March 2026 5:30 PM IST
