Assam set for next-gen fight as Congress makes it Gogoi vs Sarma

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has appointed Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi as Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president as part of the party's aggressive preparations for next year's assembly polls.

Present APCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah has been made chairperson of the campaign committee. Gaurav, who is also the deputy leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has won from Koliabor seat twice. He had to change the seat to Jorhat during the 2024 polls following the delimitation exercise of 2023 which made the Koliabor seat non-existent. Despite BJP making an aggressive campaign in the polls, Gogoi won handsomely and brought back the Congress to the Upper Assam region -- a region which the Congress has been losing at a fast pace with each election. Political observers feel that during the 2026 election, Himanta Biswa Sarma may be pitched against Gaurav Gogoi. Already Sarma has upped the ante against Gogoi over his Pakistan visit. He has been attacking Gogoi for the last couple months. Sarma had left Congress and joined BJP in 2015 following his tiff with Gaurav. Gogoi belongs to the Ahom community which has substantial votes in the Upper Assam and is the son of three-time Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

Sarma had recently raised concerns over the inclusion of Gaurav Gogoi from Assam in the proposed all-party delegations to key various countries. Sarma had alleged that Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's wife Elizabeth Colburn Gogoi has "good relations" with the Pakistan Army. Sarma claimed that Colburn had travelled 19 times between India and Pakistan, and Pakistan Army officials had accompanied her in the neighbouring country.


Political observers stated that the Congress has retained Jakir Hussain Sikdar as one of the three working presidents. Roselina Tirkey, who belongs to the tea tribe, had earlier held the position of AICC secretary -- a post she relinquished to become a working president now. Pradip Sarkar, the third working president, is a Bengali. The tea tribe community accounts for over 30 assembly seats while Muslim minorities are the deciding factor in 22 seats.

Leader of the Opposition in the Assam assembly Debabrata Saikia has been made the chairperson of the co-ordination committee. Lok Sabha MP from Nagaon, Pradyut Bordoloi, will lead the manifesto committee while MP from Dhubri, Rokibul Hussain, will oversee the publicity committee.