Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, once a Congress loyalist himself, is aggressively reshaping the Assam BJP in his image ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections by welcoming high-profile Congress defectors.
A rebel becomes a recruiter
Once a star in Congress under former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Sarma felt sidelined and betrayed.
Himanta, who was sidelined after the former Assam CM sidelined him to induct his son and current Assam Congress President Gaurav Gogoi.
After losing a power struggle, he made a dramatic exit from the party that had ruled Assam for 15 long years, jumping ship to the BJP in 2015.
Sarma didn’t just switch sides; he rewrote the script. Working alongside Sarbananda Sonowal, he orchestrated the BJP’s stunning 2016 victory, ending Congress’s iron grip and installing the first non-Congress government in 15 years.
Now, a decade later, Sarma is reshaping the game as Assam CM with Congress defectors like Pradyut Bordoloi and Bhupen Borah into the BJP ahead of the 2026 polls, dropping 19 loyalists to remake the party in his own image.
Congress loyalists BJP flip
When the BJP released its list of candidates for the April 9 legislative polls include 11 former Tarun Gogoi era MLAs, including high-profile faces like Pradyut Bordoloi and Bhupen Kumar Borah.
Among the other 9 leaders are Himanta Biswa Sarma himself, along with Neog, Hazarika, Malla Baruah, Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, Pallab Lochan Das, Rupjyoti Kurmi, Sushanta Borgohain, and Bolin Chetia.
When Sarma left Congress, nine other leaders followed his footpath. While the BJP has been vocal about young first-time candidates, defectors continue to shape Assam BJP.
Gogoi for Gogoi: Congress’s obsession with dynasty politics
The Assam Congress, which has positioned three-time Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s son in the lead-up to the 2026 Assam Assembly elections, as the face of its revival, aiming to fill his father’s towering shoes after a decade out of power.
Gaurav Gogoi, who has served as deputy leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha since 2024, was appointed as Assam Congress president in May 2025 and fielded from Jorhat in the party’s first candidate list of 42 seats. Gaurav is leading “Mission 2026” with a pledge to contest 100 of 126 seats alongside allies.
This high-stakes gamble banks on his family’s enduring popularity and Lok Sabha stature to rally defected loyalists and challenge Himanta Biswa Sarma’s BJP dominance.
The race for 2026
As Congress banks on the ‘Gogoi formula’ to reclaim power, Himanta Biswa Sarma is remaking the BJP by absorbing defectors with strong grassroots networks and vote banks from Congress bastions, cementing his dominance ahead of the April polls.
Assam braces for a fierce showdown on April 9 with voting for the 126 assembly seats, pitting Sarma against Congress’s bid to swap one Gogoi legacy for another by May 4.
Bureau Report
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