The Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Land Holdings Bill, 2025, passed in the winter session, is becoming the basis of the ruling BJP’s “rights of the poor” narrative in the 2026 Assam Assembly elections.
This law grants millions of tea garden workers “leases” for the land they have lived on for generations without ownership rights. The BJP is calling this move by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s government a “historic redressal of colonial-era injustices ignored by previous Congress governments.”
The Assam Assembly on Friday passed a bill aimed at granting land ownership rights to those working in the “labor line” of tea gardens—one of the state’s most marginalized communities. With this, the party aims to strengthen the politically important tea belt.
As Assam gears up for the 2026 Assembly elections, the BJP has launched an aggressive, multi-pronged campaign aimed at weakening the resurgent Congress party under the leadership of Gaurav Gogoi, son of former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
The BJP’s strategy combines emotional mobilization, a development-oriented message, and aggressive organizational planning to achieve the NDA’s target of winning 103 of Assam’s 126 seats. The Congress’s attempt to return to power is being portrayed as a return to “dynastic politics,” which the state has “already rejected.”
Part of the campaign also focuses on the death of Assamese icon Zubeen Garg in September 2025. Sarma has repeatedly described the incident as a “simple murder,” allegedly linking it to individuals connected to Congress circles, and has promised justice by December 8th.
The issue has become a rallying point for the BJP, which is presenting itself as the “true custodian of indigenous identity.” In fact, the saffron party is accusing the Congress of shielding the suspects, which the grand old party has described as an attempt to “exploit public suffering for electoral gain.”
The BJP’s organizational machinery—strengthened through events like “Chintan Baithak” and booth-level reviews—is the backbone of this strategy. Targeted mobilization is planned in constituencies where the party’s support has declined, with an emphasis on fielding young and more women candidates.
Digital outreach is being implemented, highlighting the government’s welfare schemes and presenting them as evidence of consistent, people-centric governance.
The BJP is also playing on issues within the Assam Sonmilito Morcha alliance to undermine Gogoi. Sarma has already intensified his rhetoric on issues like “polygamy,” “love jihad,” “land jihad,” and illegal encroachments, portraying them as threats emanating primarily from Bengali-origin Muslims to further the “local versus outsider” narrative and Assamese identity politics.
