"Our fight is against the BJP": AIUDF as Assam gears for high-stakes poll battle

Election Commission of India is likely to announce the poll schedule on Sunday for Assam and three other States and the Union Territory of Puducherry, which is headed for Assembly polls in the next two months.

The poll body has scheduled a Press Conference today at 4 pm.

Special intensive revision of the voters' lists in these four states and one union territory has already been conducted, with final electoral rolls published.

In Assam, the BJP government-led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, will look to secure a third consecutive term while the Congress aims to defeat the ruling party to return to power.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Congress party, declaring that the nation is punishing them for their past actions and that they are poised to hit a "century of defeats" and are resorting to offence against the nation.

"You have ousted the Congress from Assam. Today, every state in the country is teaching the Congress a lesson. The Congress is losing election after election. In the near future, Congress is poised to hit a century of defeats. Driven by the desperation of defeat, the Congress has launched an offensive against the nation itself," PM Modi said at a public rally in Silchar during his two-day visit.

Ahead of the announcement, AIUDF MLA Rafiqul Islam told ANI that they are planning to focus on 28-32 seats and prioritising to defeat the BJP.

"According to the discussions we have had till now, we have been preparing to contest the elections on 28-32 seats. The final decision will be taken in two to four days... Our fight is against the BJP. We will support the anti-BJP forces in the election... We can contest the election in more than 100 seats. But we won't because this will benefit the BJP... We are entering an alliance with anyone before the elections. We are working on the principle of 'Ekla Cholo'. We want all anti-BJP secular parties to form a government... We will support that unconditionally."

Earlier, the Assam unit of the BJP flagged the "Jan Ashirwad Yatra" ahead of the polls. During the first phase of the outreach programme, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said earlier that he travelled 1,200 km, spending 14 hours daily with the public.

The Congress on Saturday released its second list of candidates for the upcoming 2026 Assam state polls, announcing 23 names, bringing the total tally to 65 out of 126 state assembly seats. The Congress said that 15 constituencies, including Bhowanipur-Sorbhoog, Bajali, Palasbari, Guwahati Central, Goreswar, Morigaon and Barhampur, have been left for alliance partners.

In the 2021 elections, the NDA, comprising the BJP, AGP and United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), won 75 seats. The BJP is the largest partner in the alliance with 60 seats. Voter turnout was as high as 86.2 per cent with over 2. 2 crore registered voters in 2021.

In the 2016 Assembly elections, the BJP put up a strong show and won 60 seats, and the Congress secured 26 seats. The AIDUF won 13 seats. The voter turnout for the 126 state assembly constituencies was high at 83.9 per cent. As many as 199,47, 690 voters exercised their franchise in these elections.(ANI)