Congress members of the legislative assembly will boycott the swearing-in ceremony for Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday [1].

The decision signals a deepening rift between the state's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition, as the Congress party rejects the legitimacy of the event's format.

The ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Veterinary College Ground in Khanapara, Guwahati [1]. Organizers expect around 100,000 people to attend the event [1].

Gaurav Gogoi, the Assam Congress president, said the boycott is necessary because the proceedings have shifted from government functions to party activities.

"These ceremonies have now become BJP’s political agenda and not mere government events," Gogoi said. "There is no parliamentary decency, and it does not seem right" [1].

Gogoi said that the interests of the public should take precedence over political theater in a democratic system. He said that in a democracy, people's interests matter most [2].

In a separate discussion regarding broader geopolitical concerns, Gogoi said that the Prime Minister has outlined severe stress resulting from the war in the Middle East [3].

The Congress party's refusal to participate in the ceremony marks a significant break from traditional parliamentary protocol, where opposition leaders typically attend the swearing-in of a chief minister to maintain institutional decorum. The party maintains that the current approach by the BJP undermines the neutrality required for such official government transitions [1].

“"These ceremonies have now become BJP’s political agenda and not mere government events."”

The boycott reflects an increasing trend of political polarization in Assam, where the opposition is no longer willing to provide the symbolic legitimacy of presence at official events. By framing the swearing-in as a partisan exercise rather than a constitutional requirement, the Congress party is attempting to delegitimize the BJP's administrative transitions and highlight a perceived lack of democratic etiquette in the state's governance.