Guwahati: In a significant move ahead of the 2026 assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Assam unit has announced an 18-member core committee. The committee was formed with the nod of national party president JP Nadda and will be a key point of discussion during Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s two-day visit to the state, starting Thursday night. Shah is scheduled to meet the newly-formed body to take stock of the preparations and chalk out strategies for the forthcoming polls, where the party is aiming for a third consecutive term.
The new committee is a blend of veteran and fresh faces, representing the party’s top brass in the state. It includes Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and two other Union ministers from the state, Sarbananda Sonowal and Pabitra Margherita. Other prominent members are national secretary Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, state ministers Ashok Singhal, Ranoj Pegu, and Ranjeet Kumar Dass, and former state president Bhabesh Kalita. The committee also features a strong representation from the state unit’s leadership, including three vice presidents—Ashok Bhattarai, Rekharani Das Boro, and Moon Swarnakar—and five general secretaries, namely GR Ravindra Raju, Diplu Ranjan Sarmah, Pallab Lochan Das, Rituparna Baruah, and Anup Barman. Former MP Rajdeep Roy has also been included. The meeting will also see the participation of special invitees who hold crucial roles in the party’s central and regional structure: state BJP in-charge Harish Dwivedi, Northeast coordinator Sambit Patra, and co-coordinator V Muralidharan.
The core committee’s mandate is clear: to devise a winning strategy, ensure seamless coordination between different levels of the party organisation, and galvanise grassroots workers. The move underscores the BJP’s focus on the state, a fortress it has successfully held since 2016, and its determination to retain power in Dispur.
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