Kharge, Rahul meet Assam Congress leaders to discuss poll strategy
New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi met leaders from Assam on Friday to discuss strategy ahead of the Assembly polls in the state next year and expressed hope that the party will oust the Himanta Biswa Sarma government.
This is the first meeting of the top Congress leadership with the party's Assam unit after a change of guard in the northeastern state, with the appointment of Gaurav Gogoi as the new party chief.
Sources said both Kharge and Gandhi urged the leaders to work with unity, strength and coordination to win the hearts of people in order to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government from power in the state. They termed the government Assam "arrogant and corrupt".
All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K C Venugopal and general secretary in-charge for Assam Jitendra Singh were also present at the party's new Indira Bhawan headquarters here.
Gandhi shared pictures from the meeting on Facebook.
"Today, under the leadership of president Mallikarjun Khargeji, met with members of the newly-formed Assam Pradesh Congress Committee at the Congress headquarters, Indira Bhawan," he said in a post in Hindi on the social media platform.
In a post on X, Venugopal said, "Under the leadership of INC President Mallikarjun Kharge ji and LoP Rahul Gandhi ji, held a meeting with the newly appointed Assam PCC leadership team to chalk out our plans for the year ahead."
"In Assam, under a tyrannical, corrupt and deeply divisive CM, the people are suffering every single day. The Congress has a rich legacy of delivering honest, pro-people governance and we are confident that in 2026, the people will drive out the Himanta government for its arrogant and disastrous tenure," he said.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Gogoi said, "This was an inspiring moment for me as the Assam (Congress) president. I got direction from the top leadership and my resolve to take the organisation forward with new energy and commitment became even stronger."
"Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, LoP Rahul Gandhi, K C Venugopal, Jitendra Singh have given us a target -- Mission 2026. Through this goal, the government that indulges in corruption, loot and communal politics in Assam is to be removed," he said.
Replying to a question, Gogoi said, "The people of Assam want jobs and not guns, and the BJP will only give guns to its workers. Local businessmen and shopkeepers are going to be harassed. Those bad days of secret killings and intimidation of honest businessmen are going to return."
He said Mission 2026 will bring justice -- social, economic and political -- to Assam and its people.
"The corruption of the coal syndicate has created a lot of problems in Assam. There is social tension and minorities, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are being ignored. Their dreams are being ignored. People have hopes from the Congress now," Gogoi said.
In a post on X, Singh said at the meeting, they discussed the party's policies regarding the upcoming election in Assam.
"The energetic, new team of Congress is going to bring about a change in Assam. The most corrupt and immoral BJP government of Assam is now a guest for only a few days.
"We have seen that ever since the new team of Assam Congress has been formed, the CM of Assam and the entire BJP have lost their balance. 2026 is going to be the year of change in Assam, Congress is coming with public support," he said.
