When a ruling state party has to allegedly bus in supporters from a state it no longer controls just to fill a capital-city rally, the optics are difficult to spin — and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is making sure nobody misses them. On Wednesday, 14 October 2026, Sarma posted a sharp, sardonic broadside on X targeting the Indian National Congress, accusing the party of importing a crowd from Assam to manufacture enthusiasm at an event in Delhi.

The 'Rented Crowd' Jab and What It Signals

Sarma's post pulls no punches: 'They had to rent a crowd from Assam just to fake some hype in Delhi, because back in Assam, not a single Congi bothers to show up for their own cause.' The charge — unverified, but politically pointed — frames Congress as a party so hollowed out in Assam that it cannot even mobilise its own cadre at home. For a party that governed the northeastern state for decades before losing power in 2016, the allegation is designed to sting.

Sarma also takes a swipe at Congress's recurring post-election narrative, mocking the phrase 'Vote Chori' (vote theft) — a slogan opposition leaders have deployed after BJP victories in several states. 'No wonder every defeat becomes Vote Chori,' he writes, framing it as a reflexive alibi rather than a credible grievance.

Assam's Political Arc Since 2016

The subtext here runs deep. Congress ruled Assam for three consecutive terms before the BJP-led alliance swept to power in 2016 — a seismic shift in a state the grand old party once treated as its northeastern stronghold. The 2021 assembly elections cemented BJP's grip further, and Congress alleged irregularities after that defeat too, a pattern Sarma is now holding up as evidence of a party unwilling to reckon with its own organisational collapse.

As convenor of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), Sarma has built a reputation as one of BJP's sharpest political voices in the region — and the willingness to go after Congress's grassroots credibility is very much part of that brand.

Congress Yet to Respond

As of the time of publication, Assam Congress leaders had not issued a formal rebuttal to Sarma's post. Whether the party addresses the crowd-sourcing claim — or lets the taunt pass — will itself be a signal of how much political bandwidth it can spare for a fight in a state where it has been on the back foot for nearly a decade.

For Sarma, the post is as much a message to Assam voters as it is a jab at Congress: the BJP's northeastern anchor is confident enough to laugh at the opposition.