Himanta Sarma vs Gaurav Gogoi showdown: Assam heads into 2026 polls amid echoes of a political past

Guwahati: It was 1996. Assam was ravaged by insurgency and Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) headquarters in Guwahati Rajiv Bhawan wore a deserted look with hardly any Congressmen visiting the office.

Congressmen were targeted by insurgents then. The Congress, led by Hiteswar Saikia, was voted out of power in 1996 and regional party Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) which was formed after six years of anti-foreigners' movement came back to power for a second term.

Saikia died on April 22, 1996 and former Union minister Tarun Gogoi was tasked to be APCC president. For almost five years, Gogoi worked in building the organisation and in 2001 defeated AGP and brought the Congress back to power which lasted for three terms till 2016. Gogoi was APCC president from 1986 to 1990 when AGP came to power for the first time.


After 25 years, Assam on April 9 will go for single phase polls to 126 assembly constituencies. Roughly a year ahead of the Assam polls, the Congress leadership sent Gaurav Gogoi to Assam. Questions were asked if he can repeat his father's feat and unite the factionalism riddled Congress.

Gaurav Gogoi had shifted his constituency from Kaliabor to Jorhat following the delimitation exercise of 2023. Gaurav's Lok Sabha constituency of Kaliabor ceased to exist, and a new constituency was created -- Kaziranga -- following the delimitation of constituencies.

For Gaurav, Jorhat is home turf as his family members have represented this constituency in the past. The 2024 Lok Sabha polls was the first election for Gaurav after his father Tarun Gogoi passed away in 2020.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma left no stone unturned to defeat Gaurav during the last Lok Sabha polls, but Gaurav won the seat.

SARMA VS GOGOI

Political analysts observe that the 2026 election is a personality fight between Sarma and Gaurav. Congress has announced Gaurav as candidate from Jorhat assembly seat.

Sarma has been attacking Gaurav almost every day. On February 8, Sarma had brought journalists from New Delhi to Guwahati and, at a press conference, announced that the file related to an SIT probe into Gogoi's alleged "Pakistan link" had been forwarded to the Union home ministry.

Meanwhile, Gaurav is facing organisational erosion -- recently, former APCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah resigned from the Congress and joined BJP. On Tuesday, Nagaon MP Pradyut Bordoloi left Congress attacking Gaurav's way of functioning and joined BJP. Gaurav has been constantly attacking Sarma and family members alleging corruption.

Sarma came into Congress politics during the chief ministership of Hiteswar Saikia in 1991-96. He won from alukbari seat five times, thrice from the Congress and twice from BJP.

Since 2001, Sarma held different portfolios under chief minister Tarun Gogoi. His trouble shooting abilities earned him recognition both within the party and organisation. He was nicknamed "manager" at the party. Slowly, he emerged as the trusted lieutenant of Gogoi. Between 2006 and 2011 Sarma emerged as de facto CM in political circles.

During the 2011 assembly polls, he was the main campaigner of the Congress. However, after the entry of Gogoi's son, Gaurav, in politics post-2011, relations between Sarma and Gogoi started deteriorating and Gogoi's blue-eyed boy became his bete-noire.