For more than 15 years, Himanta Biswa Sarma has been the most reliable electoral engine in Assam, winning assembly seats, Lok Sabha contests and even Rajya Sabha numbers when arithmetic alone fell short. He delivered for the Congress. He delivered for the BJP after switching in 2015. But April 9, 2026, is different. For the first time, Sarma enters an Assam election not as kingmaker but as king—the sitting chief minister. “This is his election,” says one of his close confidants. “He is the product he is selling this time, not another chief ministerial face. So, the return must be higher.”
