Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi meet Assam Congress leaders
Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi meet Assam Congress leaders to discuss poll strategy
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 this image via AICC on May 30, 2025, Congress leader and LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi during a meeting with the newly appointed office-bearers of the party's Assam unit, in New Delhi. (AICC via PTI Photo)
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.
