Congress to contest 2026 Assam assembly polls as part of 16-party united opposition: Bhupen Kumar Borah

Guwahati: Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah on Thursday said it will contest the 2026 assembly poll as part of the 16-party united opposition forum.

Borah said his party as well as other members of the forum will continue to work to strengthen their base across all districts.

“It is certain that we will fight the 2026 state elections together with the united opposition forum. But that does not mean that the parties will sit idle. All parties will keep on working to expand their organisational base, and there is no harm in it,’ he told reporters here.

Borah also asserted that being part of a forum does not imply equal distribution of seats in any election.

Members of the grouping are given seats as per their strength, background and history of the constituencies, he said.

The forum constituents include the Assam Jaitya Parishad, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the CPI(M).

Earlier, Borah had said the party will contest the upcoming by-elections to all five assembly seats in the state.

On the three-day meeting of party leaders with AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh that concluded on Wednesday, the state chief said deliberations were held on strategies following delimitation of assembly and panchayat seats.

Discussions on decentralisation of power, including authorising district and mandal-level committees to take local-level decisions like distribution of party tickets with the state committee playing a supervisory role, were held, he said.

Activating the party’s disciplinary committee and ensuring that it operates as per the party constitution were also discussed, Borah said.

He also said six committees, headed by top state leaders, were formed to look into different aspects like organisational changes, training of new members and election management.

“A digital taskforce is being set up, too, so that we have means to ensure that our messages reach each and every party worker and leader,” he added.