Raijor Dal seals alliance with Congress, to contest 13 seats in Assam polls

The two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday, under which the Raijor Dal will contest 13 seats in the upcoming Assam Assembly elections.

In Short

• Alliance aims to consolidate anti-BJP votes
• Gaurav Gogoi projected as CM candidate by Raijor Dal
• Six parties including AJP join grand alliance against BJP

In a major political development in Assam ahead of the Assembly elections, the Congress and the Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal have formalised a poll alliance. The two parties on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), under which the Raijor Dal will contest 13 seats. The agreement was announced at a joint press conference in Jorhat, signalling a broader effort to consolidate opposition forces in the state.

As both parties emphasised the need to put up a unified front challenging the BJP, the alliance will now focus on consolidating the anti-BJP votes under one umbrella.

Talking about the development, Akhil Gogoi said that the alliance had been a long-awaited one, which finally materialised right before the election. He mentioned that Congress has left several key electoral constituencies as part of the seat-sharing agreement.

"From today, Raijor Dal will work towards projecting Gaurav Gogoi as the Chief Minister,” Akhil Gogoi said, highlighting the need for a united opposition front in the state. He also emphasised that six parties, including the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), have already joined hands with Congress with a broader vision of defeating the BJP, as reported by PTI.

Meanwhile, the Congress Chief in Assam, Gaurav Gogoi, expressed his gratitude to Raijor Dal and the Assam Jatiya Parishad for the alliance. He said that all the entities, part of this grand alliance led by the Congress, sacrificed some of their claims to put up a fight against Himanta Biswa Sarma. He also thanked CPIM and the CPI(ML) for joining hands.

"We dreamt of an alliance among the Congress, Assam Jatiya Parishad, and Raijor Dal in 2021; however, it did not bear fruit, and we suffered. In 2026, we are successful in building a strong rainbow coalition with the inclusion of these parties. All the parties have made major sacrifices to oust Himanta Biswa Sarma from power and build a new Assam, where development will be served to anyone and will not be consolidated in one family's hands," Gogoi said.

The 126-member Assam assembly will go to the polls on April 9.

- Ends