'Wrestling without power': Opposition rift in focus as CM courts voters in Sivasagar
After rain stalled his Lakhimpur rally, the Chief Minister redirected fire at a divided Opposition in Sivasagar;
A file image of Chief Minister Sarma during a campaign meeting. (Photo:@himantabiswa/X)
Guwahati, April 22: After being forced to cancel a campaign rally in Lakhimpur due to inclement weather, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday addressed an enthusiastic crowd at Lakuwa in Sivasagar, making a strong pitch for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the Panchayat polls scheduled for May 2 and 7.
Highlighting the developmental schemes introduced under his tenure, the Chief Minister sought to court rural voters, but it was his pointed jibe at the fractured Opposition that drew the most attention during his half-hour-long speech.
Taking aim at Raijor Dal and the Congress—who have failed to present a unified front ahead of the polls—Sarma said, “Both Akhil Gogoi and Congress are wrestling and boxing among themselves, and they’re not even in power. Just imagine what would have happened had they been in power.”
He contrasted this with what he described as the “amicable” alliance between the BJP and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), asserting that the NDA’s cohesion would ensure a stable future for Assam.
“Unlike the Congress and Raijor Dal, there is harmony between the AGP and BJP. So, during voting, remember—you must stamp either the lotus or the elephant. We are one,” he told the crowd.
Sarma’s comments come at a time when Congress and Raijor Dal—whose lone MLA hails from Sivasagar—have been struggling to strike an alliance ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls. The failure to join forces for the upcoming rural elections further underlines the internal discord.
Earlier this month, efforts to form a joint Opposition front fell apart after Raijor Dal announced on April 17 that it would contest the Panchayat polls independently.
Senior party leader Anup Borpatra Gohain revealed that Raijor Dal had initially offered two out of six Zilla Parishad seats under the Sivasagar constituency to the Congress as part of a proposed alliance.
However, the Congress did not respond and went on to field candidates for all six seats, effectively quashing any alliance talks.
Against this backdrop, the repeated setbacks in forging Opposition unity could lead to a fragmented challenge to the ruling BJP in the rural polls, potentially handing the NDA a decisive advantage.