Post Congress-Raijor Dal alliance, BJP eyes Sibsagar seat

BJP considers fielding a candidate in Sibsagar to challenge Akhil Gogoi after Congress-Raijor Dal alliance strengthens opposition.

GUWAHATI

The last-minute alliance between the Congress and Raijor Dal has made the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) contemplate fielding a candidate in eastern Assam’s Sibsagar Assembly constituency.

Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi is seeking re-election from Sibsagar, where his position got strengthened after his party joined the Congress-led Opposition bloc, which has six political parties, including two from the Left Front.

Soon after filing his nomination papers for the Jalukbari constituency in Guwahati on Friday (March 20, 2026), Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the BJP would discuss with ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) the possibility of fielding its candidate in Sibsagar.

Sibsagar is one of the 26 seats the AGP is contesting. The regional party declared Prodip Hazarika, who was elected from the delimitation-devoured Amguri constituency in 2021, as its Sibsagar candidate on Thursday (March 19).

“Things could have been different had their (Congress-Raijor Dal) friendship been [formed] three or four months ago. Their alliance, so close to the election, will not have much of an impact,” Mr. Sarma told journalists.