New Delhi: The Congress party is keen to perform well in the assembly elections scheduled for four states in 2026. The party has deployed several senior leaders in these poll-bound states to formulate a strong electoral strategy against the BJP and the NDA.
The Congress faced defeats against the NDA in the 2025 Bihar assembly elections and the 2024 Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections. The party later blamed alleged vote rigging for the results. Therefore, to ensure a better performance in the 2026 elections in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, experienced leaders have been appointed as AICC observers.
In Assam, the NDA has been in power since 2016. The Congress is desperate to oust the NDA from power. Therefore, the grand old party has appointed former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar as AICC observers. Earlier, the party had appointed Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to head the screening committee for selecting candidates for the Assam elections.
For the Congress, challenging the NDA, led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in Assam is a daunting task. According to party sources, while Priyanka Gandhi will ensure a transparent candidate selection process, Baghel and Shivakumar will counter the NDA’s control over the administration and other resources. The party has also deployed Bandhu Tirkey from Jharkhand to Assam.
In the 2021 Assam assembly elections, the Congress could only win 29 out of 126 seats, while the BJP secured 60 seats. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress could only win 3 out of the state’s 14 Lok Sabha seats, while the saffron party bagged 9.
Manoj Chauhan, the Congress secretary in charge of Assam, told ETV Bharat, “All three Congress observers have experience in handling elections and governments. Their guidance and suggestions will be crucial in fighting the NDA, which will leave no stone unturned to win the upcoming elections. They have resources and are in power. Therefore, we need a better plan to counter them.” The Congress-led UDF in Kerala has been in the opposition since 2016. The Congress party hopes to oust the ruling LDF, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, based on its strong performance in the recent local self-government elections.
According to party sources, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad in Kerala, will reportedly supervise the upcoming elections in the state, but Congress Working Committee member Sachin Pilot will assist her as the AICC observer for Kerala. Young faces like Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi and Kanhaiya Kumar, who campaigned extensively in the Bihar elections, and Karnataka minister and veteran leader K.J. George have also been appointed as observers in Kerala.
According to party sources, an internal survey has shown that the UDF has an edge over the LDF in approximately 90 of the 140 seats in Kerala, but a united and vigorous campaign in the coming days is necessary to secure a victory.
P.V. Mohan, the secretary in charge of the Kerala Congress, told ETV Bharat, “The state unit is united, as demonstrated in the recent local body elections, but we still need an aggressive campaign to highlight the failures of the LDF government. The central observers will help bring the necessary energy and experience to the assembly elections.”
In Tamil Nadu, the Congress is supporting the ruling DMK from the outside. The party hopes that their alliance will be finalized soon and that they will remain in power. However, the slight delay in finalizing the seat-sharing formula has recently led to some controversial statements from a few state unit leaders, which has angered the DMK.
According to party sources, the presence of senior leaders like Mukul Wasnik and Uttam Kumar Reddy will help the Congress better coordinate with its ally DMK, control outspoken leaders, and focus on strengthening its organization to counter the NDA ahead of the upcoming elections. Wasnik and Reddy, along with Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin, will also be Congress observers in neighboring Puducherry. Congress secretary in charge of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Suraj Hegde, told ETV Bharat, “The state unit has started working on strengthening the organization to prepare for the upcoming elections. We hope that the seat-sharing agreement to counter the NDA will be finalized in a timely manner. We have learned lessons from the recent elections in Bihar and are addressing the shortcomings in Tamil Nadu. The presence of experienced leaders as observers will certainly be beneficial for both the country’s oldest party and the alliance.”
In West Bengal, the main contest is between the ruling TMC and the BJP. Here, the Congress has deployed experienced leaders Sudip Roy Barman, former leader of the Congress Legislative Party in Bihar, Shakeel Ahmad Khan, and Prakash Joshi as AICC observers in Bengal to boost the party’s prospects.
