Assam Assembly Election 2026: The battle for continuity and change

Himanta Biswa Sarma's leadership faces its toughest test against anti-incumbency, regional resurgence, and generational shifts

- PROSENJIT NATH

The political theater of Assam is once again alive with speculation, strategy, and shifting allegiances as the state gears up for the 2026 Legislative Assembly elections, scheduled between March and April.

The current assembly, elected in 2021, completes its term on May 2, 2026. That election delivered the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) a clear majority, consolidating the saffron surge in the Northeast and installing Himanta Biswa Sarma as Chief Minister. Now, five years later, the ground realities look more complex. The BJP remains the dominant political force, yet the state's political pulse beats with discontent, anti-incumbency, and the revival of regionalist energies. The upcoming contest is not merely an electoral fight but a referendum on whether Assam chooses continuity under a powerful, assertive leadership or experiments with change in the form of the Congress's Gaurav Gogoi, who has emerged as the face of the opposition.