Assam Politics in Post-Congress Era: 1985 and Beyond

Assam has undergone two significant alterations in its political contours since the 1980s--one leading to the rise of a regional party and the other to a firm foothold by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Assam Movement (1979-1985) led to the formation of the main regional party--Asom Gana Parishad. The subsequent decades, however, witnessed a pronounced shift of power from this party to the national parties, marked by intense party competition. The competition has, however, rarely led to better choices and new policies, programmes or institutions, thus perpetuating underdevelopment and economic stagnation besides accentuating deep fault lines within the society. Aided by the unique data sets of National Election Studies, Assam Politics in Post-Congress Era: 1985 and Beyond closely analyses the shifting political dynamics in Assam in the context of the state's history and socio-economic situation. It further documents the dynamic political equations in the state, marked by the eclipse of the Congress and followed by the current dominance of the BJP.