Assam Assembly Elections: Congress releases first list of candidates, MP Gaurav Gogoi to contest from Jorhat

The Congress party on Tuesday released the first list of candidates for the Assam Assembly Elections, scheduled for later this year.

Gaurav Gogoi, who is the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Member of Parliament for Jorhat Lok Sabha Constituency, will contest the assembly polls from Jorhat. Gogoi is also president of Assam Congress.

Congress Legislature Party leader in Assam, Debabrata Saikia, to contest the upcoming state Assembly polls from the Nazira seat.

Legislative Assembly elections are expected to be held in Assam in March–April 2026 to elect 126 members of the house. In 2021, the election saw the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) retain power with 75 seats, marking the first time a non-Congress alliance won consecutive terms in the state. The Mahajot led by the Congress won 50 seats, increasing its tally from 26 in 2016.

Himanta Biswa Sarma, a former Congress leader, became the chief minister of Assam.

In January, the Congress had Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as chairperson of the party’s screening committee for Assam.

This was the first organisational task assigned to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra after her role as All India Congress Committee general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh. The Congress party lost the 2022 UP elections, winning just two seats. Since then, she has been a general secretary without a specific assignment, even as she became a Lok Sabha member from Wayanad in 2024.

Education, healthcare will be upgraded: Gogoi

Gogoi on Sunday said education and healthcare systems will be upgraded across the state once his party forms the government after the assembly polls.

Leading the 'Samay Paribartanar Yatra' in Dibrugarh district, Gogoi said that when the Congress comes to power in the state, women will get the benefits of different schemes without attending any party meetings.

"We want to create a better environment for education and healthcare in every village, including the tea garden areas. We aim to empower women by promoting small-scale enterprises so that they can become self-reliant," he said.

Gogoi assured that under a Congress government, welfare schemes would be further improved and strengthened.

"The present BJP government gives benefits of schemes to women who attend their party meetings. Once our party forms a government, all eligible women will receive benefits directly in their bank accounts without having to attend party meetings," he added.

Gogoi said that the Congress remains firmly committed to building a "new greater Assam" by uniting people across all communities, irrespective of caste, creed or religion.

He stressed that the march was not merely a political programme, but a heartfelt effort to connect directly with the people.

(With agency inputs)