From Sankar-Ajan to Sankar-Madhab ‘only’: How BJP saffronised Assam

On May 4, NDA recorded its best performance in Assam, winning 102 seats, with the BJP alone securing 82—22 more than in 2021.

'The BJP can't penetrate much into Assamese society. Assam is a land of Sankar-Ajan,' a bhakat, or a resident monk in a satra—a Vaishnavite monastery at Majuli, the world's largest inhabited island and the centre of Neo-Vaishnavite culture in eastern Assam—told me just days before the Assembly elections in April 2016.

Sitting on a large wooden mechanised boat on the Brahmaputra (Majuli is an island in the mighty river), he was referring to Shrimanta Sankardeb, the 15th-16th century saint who propagated Neo-Vaishnavism through the satras across Assam, emphasising unity and secularism. The monk also invoked Ajan Fakir or Ajan Peer, an Islamic saint who landed about 200 years later, in the 17th century. He had similarly shaped a syncretic cultural ethos in the Brahmaputra Valley.

The monk then dismissed the argument that the Narendra Modi wave, after the BJP's 2014 national victory, had reached Assam. "Let them try", he said, sarcastically.

Days later, the BJP and its regional allies—the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodoland People's Front (BPF)—stormed to power, riding on an "anti-infiltration" narrative against the 15-year Congress government led by Tarun Gogoi. It was the BJP's first government in Assam, with Sarbananda Sonowal as the chief minister. Sonowal, elected from Majuli, helped the party secure over 50 per cent of the votes there, despite a long-standing perception of the constituency as a bastion of secularism. The BJP inducted Sonowal as he headed the All Assam Students' Union that had spearheaded the six-year-long Assam Agitation, or the anti-foreigners movement (1979–1985).

In 2016, the BJP won 60 of the 126 Assembly seats, while the AGP and BPF secured 14 and 12 seats, respectively. The party framed its victory as a response to an "identity crisis" caused by "illegal migration" from Bangladesh. Sonowal accused the Congress of pursuing "Muslim appeasement", a charge that would become central to the BJP's political messaging in Assam.

Since then, the BJP has steadily bettered its tally in the elections, even as the foreigners issue remains unresolved. The alliance retained power in 2021 with 4 per cent more votes. On May 4, it recorded its best performance in Assam, winning 102 seats, with the BJP alone securing 82—22 more than in 2021. The campaign once again leaned heavily on the "anti-infiltrator" narrative, reinforcing a Hinduva-driven political frame against the Congress's appeal to secularism.

The BJP, however, faced a major backlash in Assam in 2020. The passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) triggered widespread protests across Assam. Many saw the Act as contrary to the BJP's "anti-infiltrator" brand, as it offers citizenship to non-Muslim "persecuted" migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan till 2014. "Assam will never accept the post-1971 migrants, be they Hindus or Muslims," many, including the AASU, had declared ahead of the 2021 polls. The 1971 cut-off was decided for the detection of foreigners only in Assam to quell the Assam Agitation.

Faced with intense backlash, the Modi government excluded tribal areas under the Sixth Schedule from CAA's purview. Simultaneously, the BJP recalibrated its messaging, arguing that granting citizenship to Hindu migrants was necessary to counter a perceived demographic threat from "Bangladeshi Muslims". This helped the BJP consolidate Hindu Bengali votes—crucial in around 40 constituencies—while retaining support among pro-Hindutva Assamese voters.

Given the impression that BJP's Hindutva ideology is not acceptable among the tribals, a large chunk Christians, the party either got influential leaders of the ethnic communities on board or forged alliance with parties of the ethnic communities to gradually penetrate among the tribal voters.

Tuliram Ronghang, a prominent leader of Karbi community and Biswajit Daimari of Bodo community are major examples. Daimari was made the Speaker of the Assembly in 2021 while Ronghang served as Chief of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council before being elected as an MLA this time. The party also tied up with Bodoland People's Front and United People's Party Liberal (2020) in Bodoland and Rabha Joutho Mancha, a small party representing the Rabha community, a key factor in several constituencies in western Assam. Several Congress leaders switched to BJP since Himanta Biswa Sarma shifted in 2015.

Sarma, who became a chief minister in 2021, sought to reframe Assam's cultural narrative. Sarma rejected the idea of Assam as a "land of Sankar-Ajan", calling it a Congress-era construct. "We know Assam as a land of Sankardeb, Madhabdeb, and Damodardeb only," Sarma emphasised frequently, mostly before elections. Madhabdeb and Damodardeb were the disciples of Sankardeb and carried forward the Neo-Vaishnavite Movement in Assam.

Sarma rejected the idea of Assam as a "land of Sankar-Ajan", calling it a Congress-era construct. "We know Assam as a land of Sankardeb, Madhabdeb, and Damodardeb only," Sarma emphasised frequently, mostly before elections. Madhabdeb and Damodardeb were the disciples of Sankardeb and carried forward the Neo-Vaishnavite Movement in Assam.

The renaming of places and institutions associated with Islamic heritage—including Karimganj district, rechristened as Shri Bhumi in 2024, and the removal of former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed's name from a medical college in Barpeta—has reinforced a cultural realignment.

Equally significant was the delimitation exercise carried out in Assam in 2023. It reduced the number of Muslim-dominated constituencies from around 30 to 22, while increasing seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes from 16 to 19 and adding one more Scheduled Caste seat. The number of constituencies in the Bodoland Territorial Region, an autonomous council under the Sixth Schedule, rose from 11 to 15, and one was added in Karbi Anglong. In contrast, seats in the Bengali-dominated Barak Valley were reduced from 15 to 13.

As criticism mounted over the BJP's inability to resolve the foreigners' issue, Sarma intensified eviction drives targeting Bengali-speaking Muslims and initiated "pushback" measures at the border. Acknowledging the constraints of formal deportation, he argued that the aim was to create conditions that would compel the "Bangladeshi Muslims" to leave

Along with these measures, the government expanded welfare schemes, including cash transfers for women, satras, and Vaishnavite monks. Eviction drives were also carried out to reclaim land for satras, while the redevelopment of Batadrava Than—the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardeb—in Nagaon district carried both cultural and political significance.

The electoral outcome reflects the cumulative impact of these strategies. The Congress recorded its worst-ever performance, winning just 19 seats. Notably, 18 of its 19 MLAs are Muslims. The BJP did not field a Muslim candidate. The party has used this to sharpen its attack, portraying the Congress as a 'Miya party'.

The Congress, meanwhile, attempted to counter this narrative with its promise of a Notun Bor Asom (a new greater Assam) of unity and communal harmony. "Assam is a land of Sankar Ajan," Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi repeatedly asserted during the campaigns. But Sarma on Tuesday said the slogan turned disastrous for the Congress as it blurred distinctions between the indigenous communities as well as the Sanatani Hindus and the "Bangladeshi Muslims".

Sarma on Tuesday said all "credible" Hindu leaders in Congress in Assam will join the BJP in the next five years, given the grand old party's shrinking support base among the Hindus.