The Congress-led Opposition alliance in Assam has hit turbulence ahead of the two-phase panchayat polls in May.
The alliance formed before the 2021 Assembly polls showed signs of fragility during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The differences became public after MLA Akhil Gogoi, the president of Raijor Dal, accused some Congress leaders of conspiring to let the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sweep the rural polls, specifically in eastern Assam’s Sivasagar district.
Mr. Akhil Gogoi represents the Sivasagar Assembly constituency, and Raijor Dal is one of the 16 constituents of the United Opposition Forum, Assam. The Left Front parties are among the constituents.
“Congress crossed the limits of betrayal by fielding candidates for all six zilla parishads in Sivasagar instead of helping us in the true spirit of alliance. We have been insisting that contesting separately and not as a unit would be suicidal when the ruling parties (BJP and its allies) have better coordination,” he told journalists.
He also accused Congress’s Jorhat MP Gaurav Gogoi and Congress Legislature Party leader Debabrata Saikia, who represents the Nazira Assembly constituency, of planning to let the BJP sweep the panchayat polls because of a leadership tussle within the grand old party.
Sivasagar and Nazira are constituents of the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat.
“The Congress leadership have told me that the MP wants to sabotage the alliance because State Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah stands to gain if we do well,” the Raijor Dal president said, threatening to field a candidate for the Nazira seat in the 2026 State polls.
“It is said that Debabrata Saikia has forgotten how our workers helped him win the 2021 Assembly polls,” he said, adding that the Jorhat MP was similarly ungrateful to the Raijor Dal.
“We cannot keep tolerating the back-stabbing. I am under tremendous pressure from our party workers to take a stand,” he said.
‘No certificate needed’
Mr. Borah reacted by lamenting the attempts to weaken the alliance. “We have been trying to strengthen the anti-BJP alliance seriously, but the atmosphere of camaraderie is under stress,” he said.
“Akhil Gogoi said two of our senior leaders are BJP agents. We do not want certificates of our loyalty to our party from anyone beyond,” he said.
On April 18, the last date for withdrawing nominations for the panchayat polls, 348 seats were decided uncontested. The BJP-led NDA secured 325, followed by independents in 15, Congress in nine, and the All India United Democratic Front in one.
“This is a massive and unprecedented mandate in Assam’s political history. It reflects the immense trust and overwhelming love that the people of Assam have for the NDA and Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
There are 21,920 seats in the gram panchayats, 2,192 in the anchalik parishads, and 397 in the zilla parishads. The polls are being held in 27 of Assam’s 34 districts, as autonomous tribal councils govern the remaining seven.
Counting of votes for the panchayat elections will be held on May 11.
