Himanta targets over 50% vote share for NDA in 2026 polls

Guwahati: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said the NDA is aiming to secure over 50% vote share in the upcoming assembly elections in Assam. He added that the NDA will return to power in the state, but declined to speculate on the exact number of seats BJP is likely to win.The CM, in a post-party meeting briefing at the party’s state headquarters, said, “We have delivered good governance over the past five years and BJP has been able to strengthen its presence at the grassroots across Assam. Therefore, we are not concerned about the opposition. Our focus is on improving our vote share to over 50%, and we have been consistently working toward that goal.”On party’s priority in giving candidature, he said BJP has always prioritised women’s leadership — whether in zilla parishads or in the state cabinet. “Our finance minister is a woman and the party has played a key role in creating space for women leaders. In the upcoming elections, we will emphasise greater representation of women and young first-time candidates,” he added. Sarma further said the delimitation of the assembly constituencies in the state, which was conducted in 2022-23, has increased our winning prospects in 18 additional seats. “This ensures we do not need to deny tickets to any sitting members in order to accommodate new faces, including women,” he said.BJP’s newly elected national working president Nitin Nabin, national general secretary (org) BL Santosh and newly appointed election in-charge for Assam and national vice president of the party Baijayant Panda will hold two meetings with the party’s state office bearers here on Dec 26 and 27 regarding the election strategy.“We will not involve the PM with the elections. We will do the election strategy and union home minister Amit Shah and BL Santosh will guide us,” he added.On the opposition’s possible threat in the elections, Sarma said, “Congress is preparing for the 2036 elections. I don’t think Congress has made preparation for the 2026 elections. Definitely, they have a particular vote bank, which they will get even if they field some unknown person bringing in from another state.”