Dhing Final Nail as Raijor Dal-Congress Alliance Breaks Over Insults, Broken Promises...

The Raijor Dal-Congress alliance is officially over in Assam, signalling a worrying trend among opposition parties, who have again failed to find common ground before the elections. Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi on Sunday addressed a press conference in Kaziranga in which he called out his Congress counterpart Gaurav Gogoi’s arrogance and stated that failure to reach an agreement on a single constituency, Dhing, turned out to be the final nail in the coffin.

In a lengthy press release, the Raijor Dal pointed out several reasons that finally led to the breakdown in the alliance. From insulting behaviour to not learning from history, Raijor Dal raised key issues that led to the decision.

Amid the discussions on the seat-sharing formula, Akhil Gogoi said that his party sought 13 seats from the Congress, including Dhing, but was “effectively” handed only four. In the Dhing constituency, which became a sticking issue for both sides, Raijor Dal had, in 2021, fielded Mehboob Muktar. They planned for him to contest this year as well.

What Press Release Said

The press release mentioned: "On March 6, 2026, at a meeting and subsequent press conference held in Guwahati with four opposition parties, the Pradesh Congress formally excluded the Raijor Dal from the alliance. This decision to exclude Raijor Dal from the alliance was extremely disrespectful to us. We have observed that the Pradesh Congress president, Gaurav Gogoi, displayed both verbal and non-verbal behaviour that was not in favour of the alliance, and his conduct was not at all respectful toward the allied parties.

"At the press conference held on March 6, at the Green Wood resort in Beltola, Guwahati, Gaurav Gogoi’s statements, along with his remarks during a meeting on July 6, 2025, concerning opposition party alliances, clearly reflected his arrogance. In the meeting, he did not explicitly speak in favor of the opposition alliance, and at the March 6, press conference of the four political parties, the Raijor Dal’s inclusion in the alliance was not directly addressed; instead, he gave vague statements like “our doors are open,” which indicated that the Pradesh Congress had no real interest in forming a genuine alliance with all parties.

"Why has the alliance with Congress stalled? In simple terms, numerically, the alliance was heading toward a breakdown. Initially, Raijor Dal requested 27 constituencies from Congress (at that time, Assam Jatiya Parishad had asked for 26). Congress considered this number too high, and in good faith, we reduced our demand to 20. However, Congress remained obstinate, and Gaurav Gogoi arrogantly drew a figurative line stating that Congress would contest over 100 constituencies. Based on this line, when Congress asked us to reduce the number of constituencies, we agreed to 15 but made it clear that our party would not contest fewer than that. Eventually, a four-member negotiation team from Congress agreed to 13 constituencies with us, of which only four were directly preferred by us. Four were meant to be left as friendly gestures, and five were allotted by Congress at various times. Essentially, we were reduced from 27 constituencies to four. Despite this, Congress continued to be obstinate.

"Raijor Dal, ultimately finding itself without any alternative, offered to accept all Congress's conditions. However, the Dhing constituency, which is part of the Raijor Dal’s organisational base, had to be directly contested. We were left ‘helpless’ in the sense that we genuinely wanted to defeat the BJP, which was our firm resolve, but for Congress, their own party’s interest was the sole criterion for decision-making. They wanted to directly contest the Dhing constituency. Even after we offered this constituency, Congress led violent protests, sit-ins, and defamation campaigns against our candidate, yet we saw no directive from the Pradesh Congress to control it. We are certain that these pressures were exerted under the direct instructions of the Pradesh Congress.

"On the other hand, we asked Congress for the Dhing assembly constituency in Nagaon district. Even after several assurances, Congress refused to give this constituency. Pradesh Congress president Gaurav Gogoi arrogantly dismissed all our requests. Therefore, the Dhing constituency was not given to Raijor Dal, and Congress officially formed an alliance on March 6 with the other three parties. Even before that, while discussions were ongoing, Congress unilaterally released its list of candidates, including Dimow, Barchalla, Margherita, Dispur, Duliajan, etc., from Raijor Dal’s proposed list. We, maintaining restraint and aiming to avoid discord in the alliance, excluded the disputed constituencies and announced our candidate list.

"The primary objective of Raijor Dal is to defeat fascist-communal forces. We believe the country, nation, and people are struggling to be freed from these feudal forces. These communalists are pseudo-nationalists and fanatical. This fanatic force is selling the country. Corporate-capitalist forces have greedily consumed national resources. Their policies have caused local businesses to suffer, and economic activity has declined. Prices have skyrocketed. It is the duty of every patriotic citizen to remove them from power by any means necessary. For this reason, we had joined the united front with Congress, despite differences of opinion. In the 2021 assembly elections, they betrayed us openly. We agreed to contest only eight constituencies with them in 2021. But when BPF approached them, Congress cheated us. They betrayed, deceived, and ran defamation campaigns against us. Since we were conducting discussions secretly and maintaining the alliance’s integrity, we were portrayed as villains. Many intellectuals, acting as Congress spokespersons, attacked us. Hence, this time we are publicising all details of the alliance.

"Congress is nationalist; we are regionalist-nationalist. We believe in federalism. Their thinking is feudal; ours is progressive, socialist. We sought a united front with them, only to resist the fascist-communal BJP-RSS forces. For us, the rule in a united front is that progressive forces must lead; only then does the public benefit. But in the united front with Congress, progressive leadership was entirely absent, and no environment existed for ideological discussion. Congress was never serious about the alliance. The frequent changes in their alliance negotiations prove their lack of seriousness. They never gave time to discuss with our allied parties. They only discussed candidate lists casually, sometimes at informal gatherings. Formally, the four-member Congress team met with Raijor Dal only once on February 19. At that time, we observed with concern that there was no real Congress party: there were Gaurav Gogoi’s, Rakibul Hussain’s, Pradyut Bordoloi’s, and Ripun Bora’s candidates. Congress is essentially a collection of personal interests.

"We sought the alliance sincerely, aiming to defeat communal-fascist forces and provide peace to the people. We endured all of Congress’s antics for the sake of the alliance. But the sacrifices required for the alliance were expected only from Raijor Dal, which is never democratic. The short history of Raijor Dal is a history of sacrifice. In 2021, despite Congress’s betrayal, we contested only a few constituencies. In the subsequent by-elections in 2021, out of five constituencies, we sought only Dimow. Congress denied us. In that election, Congress received 5,892 votes (6.65%), BJP got 24,395 votes (27.52%). Later, in the 2026 assembly elections, Gaurav Gogoi requested us to leave Dimow (Thawra) constituency, which we did. In the second by-election of Assam’s 15th assembly in 2024, Gaurav Gogoi broke the alliance arrogantly and handed the Behali seat to a BJP member. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Congress again did not give any seat to Raijor Dal. We sacrificed and contested in Jorhat, Nagaon, Karimganj, and Dhubri to ensure Congress victories. Out of four, Congress won three. Raijor Dal always stands for sacrifice, and again in 2026, Congress gave us only four seats, intended to contest 13, but nine were Congress’s choice, of which only four were friendly contests. That is, with our four seats and five Congress seats, only nine constituencies were given for direct contest. We clearly stated that if they gave us Dhing as a friendly seat, we would sacrifice everything for the alliance. But Gaurav Gogoi and Rakibul Hussain refused to give Dhing; others were willing, including AICC. Therefore, the obstruction in the alliance was due to Rakibul Hussain and Gaurav Gogoi.

"Why did Congress break the alliance on March 6? Did Raijor Dal commit any fault? We were liberal and endured all of Congress’s absurd statements for the alliance. But Congress wanted us to surrender completely; we refused. We had a target of only 15 constituencies and sought a minimal Common Minimum Programme (CMP). Gaurav Gogoi strongly opposed CMP. He neither wanted to give us respect nor did he hesitate to break the alliance arrogantly.

"With deep regret, we announce that after the failed alliance meeting on February 19, even though we formally sent a letter to Congress on February 20, Congress insulted us and has still not responded, hurting our self-respect. Therefore, as of today, we consider it impossible to continue discussions regarding an alliance with Congress.

Also Read: BREAKING: Raijor Dal-Congress Alliance Breaks Down Before Polls, Confirms Akhil Gogoi