The Congress party on Wednesday virtually launched its campaign for the 2026 Assam Assembly elections with a blistering attack on Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Addressing party workers at Chaygaon, near Guwahati, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, accused Sarma of corruption and communal politics, while vowing that the people of Assam would hold him accountable.
Gandhi alleged that the chief minister is working round the clock to hand over Assam’s land and wealth to industrialists Adani and Ambani. “The CM thinks he is the ‘raja’ of Assam. But if you look at his face on TV, fear is visible. He knows that fearless Congress workers will put him in jail,” Gandhi said.
He added that the Congress would not need to act, as the people of Assam — youth, farmers, workers, and all communities — “know how corrupt he is, and they will do it.”
Kharge, too, took aim at Sarma, reminding the crowd that the CM began his political career in the Congress before switching to the BJP in 2015. “The BJP could never form the government in Assam on their own. They borrowed one of our members, made him the chief minister, and grabbed power,” he said. “The man who ran away from the Congress is now the chief minister of Assam.”
The Congress president also slammed Sarma for his recent remark that people should rear pigs to save their land from people of a particular religion, calling the statement “venomous” and unbecoming of a chief minister. “You are in charge of law and order, and you’re spreading hatred,” Kharge said.
Both leaders alleged that corruption is rampant under the BJP-led state government. “Those who have wronged the people will be sent to jail. They should start repairing the prisons now, because they will have to stay there,” Kharge said.
The Congress also urged its workers to remain vigilant about the voter list in the run-up to the election, alleging collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission. Gandhi accused the ruling party of “stealing” elections in Maharashtra and plotting to do the same in Bihar.
Earlier in the day, ahead of the Chaygaon rally, Chief Minister Sarma posted on social media platform X that Rahul Gandhi had made similar remarks in a closed-door Congress meeting held in Guwahati. Without explaining how he came to know of Gandhi’s comments, Sarma simply offered his “best wishes” to the Congress leader. (With inputs from PTI)
