A long, tense counting day in Assam slowly turned into a familiar political story for the Congress, one that the party had hoped to avoid this time. As numbers trickled in from across the state, the early trends began painting a picture of setback after setback. For the grand old party, it was shaping up to be a third straight defeat in one of its most closely watched battles in the Northeast.
What made the situation sharper was that this time, the blow was not limited to the party’s tally. It was also personal for one of its most visible leaders in the state, Gaurav Gogoi.
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The Assam results have not only weakened Congress as a whole but have also placed its state leadership under serious strain, with Gogoi himself trailing in a key contest.
A difficult morning for Congress
By midday trends, Congress was struggling to find strong footing across Assam. Out of 126 assembly seats, the party was ahead in only 24. These leads were scattered rather than concentrated, spread across Central Assam, Lower Assam, and parts of the Barak Valley in the south.
In the Upper Assam and North Assam belt, areas known for their strong ethnic Assamese voter base, the situation was even more difficult. Out of 43 seats in this region, Congress was leading in just one seat, Nowboicha. This just shows how weak the party’s presence had become in a region that often plays a decisive role in state politics.
Congress was not only behind its main rival but also failing to hold its traditional ground in several pockets of the state.
Gaurav Gogoi faces a tough test in Jorhat
One of the most closely watched contests of this election was in Jorhat, where Gaurav Gogoi himself entered the race for the first time in a state assembly election. The 43-year-old leader, already a three-time Member of Parliament and the Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, had taken on a dual responsibility in this election. He was both a candidate and the president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), leading a six-party alliance in the state.
Despite his national profile and campaign leadership, early trends showed Gogoi trailing behind his BJP rival, Hitendra Nath Goswami, the sitting MLA from Jorhat.
Gogoi had also been projected by the opposition bloc as a possible chief ministerial face. That projection now faces a setback as the results indicate a strong wave in favour of the BJP across the state.
Legacy, leadership and a weight of expectations
Gaurav Gogoi’s campaign carried more than just political ambition. It also carried legacy. He is the son of the late Tarun Gogoi, Assam’s longest-serving Chief Minister and a towering figure in the state’s Congress history.
After Tarun Gogoi’s death in 2020, the party entered the 2021 elections without a clear face, and suffered a major defeat.
This time, Gaurav Gogoi was placed at the centre of the campaign. He not only contested from Jorhat but also led the party’s state unit and its alliance of six parties. His role was seen as an attempt to rebuild Congress’s presence in Assam and to directly challenge Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has emerged as the BJP’s strongest leader in the state and a long-standing political rival of Gogoi.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Gogoi had managed to win the Jorhat parliamentary seat in a closely fought contest against a BJP candidate. That victory had been seen as one of the rare bright spots for Congress in Assam in recent years.
However, assembly-level politics in Jorhat has proven to be a tougher ground for him.
Jorhat’s strong local contest and BJP’s growing edge
The contest in Jorhat was never expected to be easy for Gogoi. His opponent, Hitendra Nath Goswami, carries deep roots in the constituency. Goswami comes from well-known local family. He has built strong personal connections with voters over decades.
His political journey in Jorhat has been long and steady. He has contested every assembly election from the seat since 1991. He served as the MLA from 1991 to 2006 under the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).
After losing in 2006 and again in 2011, he joined the BJP in 2014. Since then, he has held the Jorhat seat continuously from 2016 onwards, strengthening his position in the constituency.
While Gogoi travelled across Assam during the campaign, supporting candidates in various constituencies, his direct presence in Jorhat was limited. Much of the local campaigning for him was handled by party workers on the ground, including some leaders who had also hoped to get party tickets from the seat.
This difference in campaign style added another layer of difficulty for Congress.
Assam’s political balance continues to tilt decisively in one direction, and Congress now faces the harder task of rebuilding from an even lower base than before.