Dibrugarh: As Assam’s political temperature rises ahead of the 2026 assembly elections, MP and Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi on Saturday led the “Samoy Poribortonor Yatra” — or the March for Change of Times — at Demow in Sivasagar district, drawing a large turnout of party workers, supporters and residents.The procession began from the public playground in Demow and was attended by senior Congress leaders, including MP Pradyut Bordoloi and hundreds of party workers and supporters.The “Samoy Poribortonor Yatra,” also known as “Mati Bachao, Jati Bachao” (Save the Land, Save the Community), was originally launched on Feb 5 from Manabendra Bhawan in Guwahati, with Gogoi leading the campaign alongside senior leaders. The second phase of the yatra was launched from Golaghat, covering multiple locations across the district, with the campaign aimed at safeguarding the rights of Assam’s people.Addressing the gathering at Demow, Gogoi launched a sharp attack on the ruling BJP govt, accusing it of failing the people of Assam despite nearly a decade in power. He reminded the crowd that the people had given BJP opportunities in 2016 and 2021, hoping for transformation through the much-promised “double engine” govt, but were left disappointed.“The people of Assam now face a choice between an arrogant ruler and a true servant of the people,” Gogoi said at one of the yatra’s stops.He assured that a Congress govt would work without threatening citizens or tying welfare benefits to political participation.Taking aim at the ruling dispensation, Gogoi alleged that in the same period one family had acquired ownership of 12,000 bighas of land across Assam. He said the yatra was exposing such instances of alleged land encroachment and misuse of power, and that the public response had been overwhelming.Gogoi also reiterated the Congress’s key promises for the 2026 elections. He assured that if Congress forms govt, all existing schemes would continue and be improved, with benefits distributed fairly to deserving people irrespective of party lines, avoiding the current concentration of multiple benefits in single households, while depriving others.Gogoi also announced that a Congress govt would introduce a special development package for areas along the Assam–Nagaland border, where residents have long complained of insecurity and lack of infrastructure.With BJP simultaneously rolling out its own “Jana Ashirwad Yatra” across the state, Assam’s streets have become the battleground for both parties as they make their final pitch to voters. For Congress, the Xomoy Poribortonor Yatra represents its most intensive grassroots outreach in years — a campaign the party hopes will translate into a decisive electoral turnaround in 2026.
