Assam civil society group urges united Opposition to defeat BJP in 2026 polls
Guwahati: Amid the prevailing pre-election climate in Assam, Assam Nagarik Sanmilan, a collective of like-minded citizens’ organisations on Saturday called for a united opposition to defeat the BJP in the 2026 Assembly elections, alleging growing anarchy and arbitrary governance under the BJP-led state government.
In a statement, the group said civil society had been compelled to intervene in electoral politics due to what they described as the authoritarian functioning of the present dispensation.
They alleged that the state government no longer listens to public opinion and functions solely on the will of the Chief Minister.
The group accused the government of stoking fear around identity issues while simultaneously handing over Assam’s land, rivers, forests, and mineral resources to a few large corporate houses.
According to them, companies linked to major industrialists have acquired tens of thousands of bighas of fertile agricultural and forest land, while small contracts, petty trade, and local businesses have increasingly fallen under the control of BJP-RSS-backed syndicates from outside the state.
Serious concerns were raised over the ongoing Special Summary Revision (SR) of the electoral rolls. They alleged that lakhs of minority voters whose families have lived in Assam for generations have had their names deleted for political reasons, while outsiders were being allowed to vote as long as they were identified as “Hindu.” They claimed this had effectively dismantled the rule of law in the state.
Warning that Assam’s identity and democratic fabric were at stake, they said if the BJP-RSS combine was not removed from power in 2026, the state would be left with anarchy, lawlessness, and unchecked corporate plunder.
Calling for opposition unity, the collective urged all anti-BJP political parties to contest the 2026 elections together and appealed to civil society to mobilise mass public support through sustained campaigns.
They said efforts over the past several months to build opposition unity had yielded results, with opposition parties now deciding to contest the polls unitedly, a move they said had generated hope among the people.
However, they cautioned that the opposition must act swiftly to counter what they termed attempts to influence elections “through the back door,” including alleged large-scale deletion of genuine voters during the SR process.
As the largest opposition party, they said, the Congress had a particularly crucial role to play and must take the lead without hesitation.
The group said a joint letter had already been sent to Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, urging the party’s central leadership to become more actively involved in Assam’s elections.
The statement was issued on behalf of the Assam Nagarik Sanmilan by Hiren Gohain, Harekrishna Deka, Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, Paresh Malakar, Abdul Mannan, and Santanu Barthakur.