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GUWAHATI, AUGUST 30: In a display of strength before next year’s Assam Assembly polls, NDA leaders, including Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, and AGP president Atul Bora, said on August 29 that the alliance is trying to win 100 out of 126 seats in the state. The announcement was made during a rally graced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, where development, anti-infiltration steps, and attacks on the Congress were the overarching themes.
Addressing representatives of panchayats, Sarma emphasized the importance of Assam’s “jati, mati, bhet” (community, land, foundation). He promised to retrieve land taken over by outsiders and blamed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, as well as Islamic scholar Madani, for threatening him. Sarma cautioned that Assam was ready to defend itself, comparing it to the historic Battle of Saraighat.
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Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal attacked the Congress, saying its period was beset by neglect, terrorism, and instability. He juxtaposed this with what he said was the success of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in ushering in peace and development into the Northeast. AGP president Atul Bora spoke in similar lines, pointing out that fundamentalist forces had increased under Congress but maintaining that the NDA had brought back law and order by signing peace agreements with insurgent groups.
During his two-day visit, Amit Shah formally launched the BJP’s preparations for the 2026 elections. He accused Congress of shielding infiltrators and criticised Rahul Gandhi’s “Ghuspetiya Bachao Yatra” in Bihar, calling it an attempt to protect illegal immigrants. Shah demanded that Gandhi apologise to Prime Minister Modi and to the nation.
Emphasizing the anti-encroachment drives of the government, Shah said 1,29,548 acres of land were retrieved from infiltrators and sanctity of Vaishnavite monasteries was regained. Attending the centenary of Assam’s first non-Congress Chief Minister Golap Borbora, Shah remembered Borbora’s efforts to purify voter rolls by identifying 36,780 bogus names, which he claimed had created the foundation of the Assam Agitation.
Shah reaffirmed the BJP’s pledge to make Assam and the country free of illegal foreigners. He pointed to Prime Minister Modi’s high-power demography mission as an initiative to study demographic patterns and identify infiltrators.
The Assam Assembly election is due to come in the month of March-April 2026. The BJP has 64 seats, and its allies AGP and UPPL have nine and seven MLAs respectively. The opposition parties are Congress (26), AIUDF (15), BPF (3), CPI(M) (1), and one Independent.
