No alliance talks with Congress for Assam assembly polls: Raijor Dal
Guwahati (PTI): Assam MLA Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal on Sunday announced that it will not hold any talks with the Congress for an opposition alliance in the upcoming state assembly elections.
In December last year, Congress, CPI(M), Raijor Dal (RD), Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, Jatiya Dal-Asom (JDA) and Karbi Anglong-based All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC) had joined hands to fight the assembly elections from a common platform.
RD, in a statement, levelled a series of allegations against the Congress and its state chief Gaurav Gogoi, accusing them of abandoning the idea of an alliance and cited the recent joint press briefing by four opposition parties, excluding Akhil Gogoi's outfit.
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On Friday, Congress, CPI(M), AJP and APHLC jointly addressed a press conference in Guwahati and announced of launching joint campaign for the assembly elections.
"The Congress broke the alliance with us and sealed it with three other parties on March 6. Why did it break the alliance with us? What was our fault? We have been very open and tolerated all illogical arguments of Congress only for the sake of an alliance," RD said.
It claimed that the Congress wanted an "unconditional surrender" of Raijor Dal, which it did not agree to.
"We only wanted 15 seats and a Common Minimum Programme (CMP). Gaurav Gogoi opposed a CMP. He did not want to give us respect and broke the alliance with his arrogance," the statement said.
The Assam assembly elections for 126 constituencies are expected to take place in April this year. This will be the first assembly election after the delimitation exercise, which was done in 2023.
When asked during a March 6 presser if negotiations with RD and other opposition parties have failed, Gaurav Gogoi had said, "We are sending a clear message that from today, we are coming together. But our doors are open and we are in talks with others as well."
The RD claimed that both the opposition parties had officially met only once to discuss a possible alliance on February 19, and it observed that leaders' "individual interests" are prime in the Congress.
"After the meeting on February 19 failed, we sent a letter next day. But the Congress showed utter disrespect to us and has not replied to it till today. It has hurt our self-respect. That is why, we now believe that it will be impossible for us to take forward the alliance talks with the Congress," it added.
The party also said that it had initially sought 27 seats as its share from the Congress, which termed it "too high".
The RD, accordingly, brought down its demand to 15, but the Congress agreed to give 13 seats only, it added.
"Of those, only four seats were of our own choice. The Congress allowed us a friendly contest in four other seats, while five seats were imposed on us. So practically, we were downgraded to four seats from the initial demand of 27 seats," the statement said.
On March 3, the Congress took the lead in announcing its first list of 42 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Assam, fielding state party chief Gaurav Gogoi from the Jorhat seat.
A day later, RD declared the first list of 11 candidates. Of them, the Margherita constituency has candidates from both the opposition parties.
Presently, the ruling BJP's strength in the 126-member Assam Assembly is 64, while its allies AGP has nine MLAs, UPPL has seven and BPF has three members.
In the opposition camp, the Congress has 26 MLAs, AIUDF has 15 members and CPI(M) has one MLA. There is one Independent legislator as well.
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RCB calmer than last year, players clear about their roles: Krunal Pandya
Bengaluru (PTI): The atmosphere in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru camp is much calmer than last year and players have a lot more understanding of their roles this season, says Krunal Pandya.
RCB won the Indian Premier League trophy for the first time in 18 years in 2025 and Pandya was the Man-of-the-Match in the final against Punjab Kings at Ahmedabad, returning 4-0-17-2 as RCB won the contest by six runs.
"I feel that this year there is a much calmer atmosphere. Last year it was a new team, and everyone got to know each other. This year many players understand their roles and each other's strengths and weaknesses," Pandya said in a release by the franchise.
"When I get into the big occasions, I feel that if God has got you here, then there is a reason behind it and sometimes I think that these big occasions are actually made for me. I feel the pressure, but I think about how I can be calm and in the present moment and do what is required," he said.
Pandya said RCB icon Virat Kohli would easily rank among the greatest players in any era of cricket.
"Virat is a classic example. You can see that hunger; you can see that passion in how he sees the game and how much he wants that victory. If Virat Kohli had been born in any (some other) generation, he would still be one of the greats. He is not competing with anyone else," he said.
