Congress Pauses Alliance Talks; Raijor Dal Demands Swift Opposition Unity In Assam

Guwahati: The fragile attempt to stitch together a united Opposition front in Assam hit another rough patch on Wednesday, with Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi announcing a “pause” in alliance talks with Raijor Dal — a move swiftly challenged by the party’s chief Akhil Gogoi, who demanded that negotiations move ahead “at lightning speed”.

In a social media statement, Gaurav Gogoi said the Congress had been trying to forge a united alliance with Raijor Dal to take on the ruling dispensation in the upcoming Assembly elections, but had been unable to reach a comfortable arrangement.

“According to the demand of our people, we wanted a united alliance with Raijor Dal to fight the upcoming elections. But unfortunately, even after many efforts, we are unable to form a comfortable alliance with Raijor Dal as demanded by the people,” he wrote.

Gogoi said the main objective of the alliance discussions was to ensure that candidates with the strongest chances of winning were fielded in each constituency.

“The objective of the alliance is to stress the real pace of winnability of candidates in the seats. Considering this aspect, we were carrying forward the alliance talks with Raijor Dal,” he said.

However, citing several unresolved issues, the Congress leader said the party had decided to temporarily halt the negotiations.

“Due to various grounds, we are unable to form the alliance according to the will of the people. Therefore, we paused the alliance talk with the Raijor Dal for a little while. Later, we will consider it,” he added.

The response from Raijor Dal came swiftly — and sharply.

Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, Akhil Gogoi said the Congress had effectively derailed the alliance process multiple times, even if it had not formally announced a breakup.

“Though Congress has not formally broken the alliance with Raijor Dal, it has done so informally — and it has happened four times,” he alleged.

According to him, while seat-sharing talks were still underway, Congress went ahead and announced candidates in constituencies such as Barchala, Dimow, Dispur and Margherita. He also claimed the party publicly announced its coalition at a press conference without including Raijor Dal, even though negotiations were still going on.

One of the key flashpoints in the talks, Akhil Gogoi said, was the Rangandi constituency.

“During seat-sharing talks, it had been decided that Raijor Dal would contest Rangandi. But without concluding discussions or informing us, Congress got Jayanta Khaund to join the party and projected him as the candidate for Rangandi,” he said.

Only after the joining ceremony, he added, was Raijor Dal informed that the Congress would contest the seat.

Akhil Gogoi also claimed that discussions had continued late into the night on March 10 and Raijor Dal leaders believed the alliance would be finalised by the following morning.

“Without any communication regarding the alliance, Gaurav Gogoi unilaterally announced on Facebook that the Congress was taking a brief pause,” he said.