Silchar: Even as Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) posted a resurgence in the Brahmaputra Valley with 10 seats as part of the NDA, the party failed to win a single seat in the Barak Valley, where three high-profile candidates — seen as close to chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma—lost decisively.The defeats have raised questions about AGP’s acceptability in the Bengali-majority region and the NDA’s strategy of fielding former AIUDF leaders under the regionalist party’s banner. Political observers cited a strong consolidation of minority votes in favour of the Congress as a key factor.In Cachar’s Sonai, AGP’s Karim Uddin Barbhuiya — who had won the seat in 2021 on an AIUDF ticket — lost by more than 27,000 votes to Congress’s Aminul Haque Laskar. In Hailakandi, Zakir Hussain Laskar, another defector, was defeated by Congress youth leader Zuber Enam Mazumder. In Sribhumi’s South Karimganj, AGP nominee Iqbal Hussain lost heavily to Congress’s Aminur Rashid Choudhury.Analysts said the results point to voter resistance to political realignments. “The scale of losses suggests that local voters did not accept the shift of these leaders under a different banner,” said a Silchar-based political commentator.While AGP regained ground in Upper Assam by leveraging indigenous identity politics, its outreach appeared to falter in the Barak Valley, where electoral dynamics differ sharply. The perception that the losing candidates were close to the chief minister added to the political signal from the region.Compared to 2021, when the same leaders had won on AIUDF tickets, the 2026 results mark a reversal. Despite holding its statewide momentum, AGP’s Barak Valley shutout is expected to intensify scrutiny within the NDA over candidate selection and longer-term strategy in the region.
