Assam Bypolls: Opposition Unity In Conundrum As Congress Fields Candidate In Behali

Congress has nominated Jayanta Borah for the Behali byelection, resolving the ticket dispute, despite ignoring the demands of its allies in the Asom Sonmilito Morcha.

Guwahati:Ending all the drama and suspense surrounding the Behali byelection ticket row, the Congress party has finally fielded its candidate in the much debated Behali seat. Congress, the major stakeholder in the opposition unity forum Asom Sonmilito Morcha alias ASOM, ignored the demand and aspirations of its allies and decided to field Jayanta Borah as its candidate for the Bihali byelection.

By doing so it not only showed a cold shoulder to the allies, which formed the opposition unity forum with the grand old party to oust BJP from power in 2026, but has put the existence of the forum in uncertainty.

Cracks Emerging in the Opposition Unity

The prime motive with which Asom Sonmilito Morcha came into existence was to build a strong opposition unity for the 2026 assembly elections in the state and dethrone the ruling BJP from power. The 2024 by-elections, which are taking place with one and half years left for the 2026 Assembly polls, was a perfect practice session to test the unity among the parties, which joined hands to oust the BJP that has been at the helm of power in the state since 2016. But, failing to create a consensus over the candidature in the Behali Assembly seat has now pushed the forum's unity into a precarious position.

The Ticket Row

Out of the five assembly seats, which go to poll on November 13, Congress as part of ASOM was allotted four seats of Bongaigaon Dholai, Sidli and Samaguri while the allies wanted the Behali seat for one of the alliance members. A five-member panel was formed by ASOM and APCC president Bhupen Borah to finalise the candidate for the seat. The committee finalised CPI (ML) candidate Bibek Das to be the common candidate and sent the name for APCC and AICCs approval. However, the Congress leadership cited Bibek Das’s past election record to be poor and rejected his candidature. It was the start of the rift and on Tuesday escalated when AICC General Secretary and Assam In-charge Jitendra Singh wrote a letter to ASOM seeking a fresh candidate to which ASOM leaders agreed and chose three probable candidates to replace Bibek Das.

It was anticipated that the matter had been resolved, but things went ugly when Congress leadership rejected that proposal as well. It ignited the resentment prevailing inside the ASOM leadership and they expressed their displeasure over the developments. But ASOM had to deal with a major blow when Bhupen Borah, President of ASOM and State Congress chief quit as President of ASOM. Borah’s move is seen as an act of displeasure against his party that chose to back Gaurav Gogoi’s loyalist Jayanta Bora. Bhupen Bora was in favour of an ally candidate so that ASOM remained united, but his party was in a different mood.

The final nail in the coffin was hammered when despite ASOM’s repeated appeal to reconsider its decision, the Congress finally announced its candidate, ending the deadlock over the candidature in the Behali constituency. On Wednesday night Congress awarded the ticket to Jayanta Bora, who switched from BJP after being denied a ticket from the same seat. With this, the speculation about the candidature in the constituency from the opposition unity forum came to an end.

Congress embraces former BJP man

Congress gave the ticket to Jayanta Bora, who quit the BJP after not getting a ticket from the ruling party. Jayanta Bora had contested the last 2021 elections as an independent from Behali. Interestingly, Jayanta Bora had left the BJP and contested as an independent and secured around 23,000 votes in the 2021 assembly elections. Later, he returned to the saffron fold.

Bora was a ticket aspirant from the BJP this time after the seat got vacant as the then MLA Ranjit Dutta won the 2024 General elections from Tezpur Lok Sabha seat. But his hopes were dashed as the BJP fielded Diganta Ghatowar in Behali. Being dejected Jayanta Bora finally resigned from the BJP and sought a ticket from the Congress. On Wednesday his aspirations became a reality when Congress awarded him the ticket even at the cost of backlash from its alliance partners.

Asom Sommilito Morcha overlooked

With the Behali being the last and fifth one, Congress fielded its candidates in all the five assembly seats going to bypolls the message is very much clear that the grand old party, despite being a constituent of the anti-BJP driven Asom Sonmilito Morcha has sidelined the forum and turned down its appeal.

It is to be noted that MP Gaurav Gogoi wanted the Congress to field its candidate in Behali. On the other hand, state Congress president Bhupen Bora wanted to field a candidate from the Morcha keeping the 2026 assembly elections in view.

In the end, fulfilling Gaurav Gogoi's wish, the Congress leadership fielded its candidate in Behali. However, this decision taken by Congress is brushing off the ASOM alliance at a time when the state elections are just more than a year away. This move has raised questions about whether ASOM will last or collapse even before facing the test. Whether they will co-exist to push back the BJP from power? The ball is in ASOM constituents' court now.