The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday released its first list of candidates for the 2026 Assam Assembly elections, renominating Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma from the Jalukbari seat that he has held for five consecutive terms.

The list, cleared by the BJP’s Central Election Committee, features 88 names and sets the tone for a high‑stakes battle in the 126‑member Assembly, with polling scheduled in a single phase on April 9 and counting on May 4.

Himanta Biswa Sarma Sticks With Jalukbari Stronghold

As expected, the BJP has chosen continuity at the top by fielding Himanta Biswa Sarma from Jalukbari, a Guwahati‑area seat that has emerged as his political fortress over the past two decades.

Jalukbari falls under the Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency and has consistently backed Sarma since 2001, first as a Congress MLA and later as a BJP heavyweight, giving him record‑breaking margins in 2016 and 2021.

In 2021, Sarma retained Jalukbari on a BJP ticket with over 1.30 lakh votes and a victory margin of more than 1.01 lakh, translating into a vote share of around 77 per cent—one of the strongest personal mandates in the state.

Symbolic Message: Stability and Winning Formula

By sticking with Jalukbari, the BJP is sending a clear message that it sees Sarma as its chief vote‑getter and stability symbol in Assam, and that it intends to fight the 2026 elections with him firmly at the centre of its campaign.

Party leaders say Sarma’s organisational control, welfare‑scheme pitch and strong hold over the Assamese urban‑rural belt around Guwahati will be critical as the NDA seeks a fresh mandate for another five‑year term.

Pradyut Bordoloi From Dispur: Big Catch From Congress

One of the biggest headlines in the first list is the candidature of former Congress MP Pradyut (Pradyut) Bordoloi from the Dispur Assembly seat, days after he resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP in the presence of Sarma and senior leaders.

Bordoloi, the Nagaon MP and ex‑state Congress chief, has been given a ticket from the high‑profile Dispur segment, which covers a large part of the state capital area and has traditionally been a prestige battleground for all parties.

BJP strategists see his entry as a double advantage—hurting the Congress organisationally in central Assam while boosting the saffron party’s appeal among sections of the Assamese middle class and tea‑belt voters familiar with Bordoloi’s earlier ministerial stints.

First List Covers 88 Seats; NDA Formula Firmed Up

According to party leaders and allied sources, the BJP will eventually contest 89 of the 126 Assembly seats, with its partners Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) contesting 26 and 11 seats respectively under the NDA seat‑sharing arrangement.

The first list accounts for 88 BJP candidates, with one more seat expected to be announced later after internal consultations with allies in a few sensitive constituencies.

AGP has publicly stated that it will retain its earlier quota of 26 seats, while BPF has been allotted 11 segments, mainly in the Bodoland Territorial Region, as part of an agreement Sarma said has already been “more or less finalised”.

UPPL Out, BPF In: Alliance Landscape Reshaped

Sarma has confirmed that the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), which was part of the BJP‑led government for most of the outgoing term, is not in the alliance for these elections and will contest 15 seats independently.

In contrast, the BPF—once a rival to the BJP and UPPL in Bodoland politics—remains in the NDA camp and will fight 11 constituencies under the common understanding, underscoring how alliances in Assam’s tribal and autonomous council belts have shifted since 2021.

Political observers say this realignment could make contests in the Bodoland Territorial Region three‑cornered in several segments, as UPPL, BPF and the BJP‑led alliance vie for influence among Bodo and other tribal communities.

Jalukbari: Profile of a ‘Safe’ Seat

Jalukbari is one of the most high‑profile Assembly segments in Assam, both because it lies in the state capital region and because it has been represented by Himanta Biswa Sarma for five consecutive terms since 2001.

Once a Congress bastion, the seat flipped along with Sarma when he switched to the BJP ahead of the 2016 elections; since then, the margin of victory for the BJP has only grown, with the chief minister polling more than 1.18 lakh votes in 2016 and over 1.30 lakh in 2021.

Analysts say Jalukbari’s mix of urban, semi‑urban and peri‑urban voters has responded strongly to Sarma’s focus on infrastructure, education and health projects in greater Guwahati, making the constituency one of the safest seats in the BJP’s 2026 playbook.

Opposition Camp: Congress, AIUDF and Others

On the opposition side, the Congress has already released an initial list of candidates and is working on joint strategies with regional partners and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in select constituencies, though a full‑fledged “Mahajot” like 2021 is not yet visible.

Congress currently has 26 MLAs in the outgoing House, while AIUDF has 15; smaller parties and independents complete the opposition benches, and all are under pressure to prevent a vote split that could favour the BJP in Muslim‑majority and tea‑garden seats.

With Bordoloi and a few other high‑profile leaders switching sides to the BJP, the Congress faces the additional challenge of plugging organisational gaps in pocket boroughs that once formed the backbone of its Assam network.

What Next: Nominations and Campaign Launch

Himanta Biswa Sarma is expected to file his nomination from Jalukbari around March 20, in line with earlier indications that he would quickly move from ticket‑finalisation mode to full‑blown campaign mode across the state.

The BJP is planning multiple mega rallies featuring national leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda, while the Congress is banking on a mix of local leadership and national figures to revive its cadre on the ground.

With less than a month to go for voting, all eyes will now be on how the BJP’s first list shapes local rebellions, ticket heartburn and last‑minute seat adjustments—not just within the ruling camp, but also across the opposition space.

Tags:

Like and Follow State Correspondents Facebook Page Latest International News Iran US War Subscribe for alerts

© 2026 State Correspondents. All rights reserved.