The battle for Assam will enter its final stage with the counting of votes on Monday (May 4, 2026). The Congress-led front of six parties hopes to shed the Opposition tag by preventing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from scoring a hat-trick of wins after the April 9 Assembly election which saw a highest-ever voter turnout of 85.96%.
Counting of votes from EVMs and postal ballots will take place at 40 counting centres across all 35 districts amid tight security arrangements. Altogether 722 candidates, including 59 women, contested the polls with the Congress fielding the most candidates at 99, followed by the BJP (90), the AIUDF (30), the AGP (26), and the UPPL (19).
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Both alliances are gung-ho about bagging at least 64 seats, the simple majority mark in the 126-member Assembly. While the Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma-helmed BJP has predicted close to 100 seats for the NDA, the Gaurav Gogoi-steered Congress is confident of a similar number for the Asom Sonmilito Morcha (ASM) to return to power after 10 years.
The verdict in Assam is expected to impact the other northeastern States going to the polls in the next few years. The BJP’s dream of putting the eight-State region, once considered its “final frontier”, on the saffron map began when it won the Assam election in 2016, ending 15 years of Congress rule.
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