The Indian National Congress is expected to release the second list of candidates for the Assam Legislative Assembly elections 2026, on Saturday after holding a high-level strategy meeting in New Delhi to review preparations and finalise nominations.
The meeting was chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by several senior leaders, including Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is serving as the chairperson of the party’s screening committee for the Assam elections. Gaurav Gogoi, president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), was also present.
High-Level Congress Meeting
The discussions were attended by key members of the party’s central leadership, including K. C. Venugopal, AICC organisation general secretary, and Jitendra Singh Alwar, AICC general secretary and Assam in-charge. Party co-incharge Prithviraj Prabhakar also participated in the meeting.
Senior observers and members of the Central Election Committee, including Manoj Chauhan and Vikas Upadhyay, were part of the discussions as well.
According to sources, the meeting primarily focused on finalising candidates for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections and reviewing the party’s organisational and electoral strategies.
95% Candidates Finalised
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, APCC president Gaurav Gogoi said that the party has already finalised candidates for around 95 per cent of the Assembly constituencies.
He indicated that the second list of Congress candidates is likely to be released later today, suggesting that the party is close to completing its nomination process ahead of the polls.
Raijor Dal Alliance Collapse
Meanwhile, Raijor Dal, one of the key opposition parties in Assam, confirmed on Friday that its alliance talks with the Congress over a seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming elections had ended without a favourable outcome.
Following the breakdown of the negotiations, the party announced that it would withdraw from the proposed alliance for the polls.
