BJP's ally, the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) has two Rajya Sabha seats now. Pramod Boro, president of UPPL was recently sworn in on April 16 as a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam
From powerhouse to zero: Congress loses all Rajya Sabha seats in Assam
From sending Manmohan Singh for nearly three decades to drawing a blank in 2026, Congress’s fall in Assam underscores caste-class shifts and NDA’s total dominance
In a dramatic shift in Assam’s political landscape, the Indian National Congress (INC) has drawn a complete blank in the Rajya Sabha from the state, the first time this is happening since Independence.
The shift became official on Thursday (April 16) with the swearing-in of three newly-elected members — Jogen Mohan (BJP), Terash Gowalla (BJP) and Pramod Boro (UPPL) — following the latest biennial elections. With this, all seven Rajya Sabha seats from Assam are now held by the NDA alliance.
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At present, the BJP holds four seats, its ally United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) has two, while the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has one, underlining the complete dominance of the ruling alliance in the state in the Rajya Sabha.
Opposition numbers shrink
For the Congress, the fall has been gradual but decisive. The party’s previous Rajya Sabha MPs from Assam — Ripun Bora and Ranee Narah — completed their terms in April 2022. Since then, the party has failed to win a single seat due to insufficient numbers in the Opposition bench.
Notably, journalist-turned-politician Ajit Kumar Bhuyan was the lone non-NDA voice from Assam in the Upper House since 2020. “I contested as a united Opposition candidate, and I have tried to raise Assam’s issues independently,” Bhuyan had earlier said about his role. His term, however, ended on April 9, 2026, further closing the Opposition space.
Turning point
The turning point came in the 2022 Rajya Sabha elections. Despite fielding Ripun Borah as a candidate, Congress fell short due to cross-voting by some of its own MLAs, invalid votes, and cracks within the Opposition ranks, as Congress snapped ties with All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in August 2021. One vote was rejected after an MLA (Siddiqye Ahmed) wrote “ONE” instead of “1”, while another (Saashi Kanta Das) openly defied the party line and voted for the NDA.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had then claimed, “I have seen that several Congress MLAs voted with their conscience. This shows where the real strength lies.”
Also read: Assam elections: Can a united opposition break BJP’s streak?
The Congress, however, saw it as a betrayal. A senior party leader said, “We cannot ignore what happened. Cross-voting and lack of unity cost us dearly. We lost not just seats, but our voice in Parliament.”
The party’s strength had already weakened after the 2021 Assembly elections, where it managed only 29 seats in the 126-member House, far behind the NDA’s comfortable majority with 75 seats.
That numerical disadvantage has since made it nearly impossible for Congress to secure a Rajya Sabha berth.
Decline since 2016
The decline, however, goes back further to 2016, when the BJP first came to power in Dispur. Defections and organisational setbacks followed, including the exit of senior leader Bhubaneswar Kalita to the BJP on August 5, 2019, primarily due to disagreement over the Congress’s opposition to the abrogation of Article 370.
What makes the present situation more striking is the contrast with the past. Assam once sent former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Rajya Sabha for nearly three decades, from 1991 to 2019.
Former Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Borah admitted the scale of the setback. “I feel this is a reality check for us. From sending a Prime Minister to the Rajya Sabha to having no one today, it is a huge fall. We have to rebuild our organisation from the grassroots,” he said.
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Bora said, “What can I say? I was the candidate in the 2022 election, but unfortunately, even our own people did not vote for me. I feel this is one of the toughest phases the Congress is facing, both inside and outside the House."
‘End of an era’
Political observers believe this is more than just an electoral loss. A Guwahati-based analyst said, “I see this as the end of an era. Congress was once the main political force in Assam. Today, it does not have a direct voice in the Rajya Sabha from the state.”
The absence has practical implications as well. Without its own MPs from Assam in the Upper House, Congress cannot directly push state-specific issues through its party representatives.
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Even if the Congress-led alliance performs well in the recently-concluded Assembly elections, the road back to the Rajya Sabha will take time till 2028. The current members will remain in office till at least April 2, 2028, delaying any immediate comeback.
Congress eyes revival
Despite the setback, the party is trying to look ahead. Another Congress leader said, “This is a difficult phase, but I believe we can reconnect with people and regain our strength.”
The Congress, once the default party of governance in the state, is facing one of its toughest phases, with its presence in the corridors of Rajya Sabha reduced to zero.