Elections to the

Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Assam. It is housed in Guwahati, the capital city of Assam, geographically situated in present Western Assam region. The Legislative Assembly comprises 126 Me ...

were held in April 1996 to elect members of 114 constituencies in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, India. The

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

(INC) won the popular vote, but the

Asom Gana Parishad Asom Gana Parishad (translation: ''Assam People's Council'', AGP) is a state political party in Assam, India. The AGP was formed after the historic Assam Accord of 1985 and formally launched at the Golaghat Convention held from 13–14 Octobe ...

(AGP) won the most seats and

Prafulla Kumar Mahanta Prafulla Kumar Mahanta is an Indian Politician who was the leader of the Assam Movement, a former Chief Minister of Assam (two terms) and the former President of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), a major political party in the Indian state of Assam ...

was appointed as the

Chief Minister of Assam The chief minister of Assam, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Assam. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following e ...

for his second term. The number of constituencies was set as 126, by the recommendation of the

Delimitation Commission of India The Delimitation commission or Boundary commission of India is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act. The main task of the commission is redrawing the boundaries of the vari ...

, but elections were held in only 122 constituencies. The constituencies of

Dispur Dispur (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Assam and is a suburb at Guwahati. It became the capital in 1973, when Shillong the erstwhile capital, became the capital of the state of Meghalaya that was carved out of Assam. Dispur is the ...

Dergaon Dergaon (IPA: ˈdɜːˌgɑ̃ʊ) is a town and a municipality in the Golaghat district of Assam, India.It is 282 km from the state capital Guwahati. Hemchandra Barua, the compiler of ''Hemkosh'' (the earliest Assamese-English dictionary) ...

Nazira Nazira (IPA: nəˈzɪərə) is a town and a municipal board in Sivasagar district in the Indian state of Assam. Nazira is a historical town on the bank of the Dikhow River. It is around 18 km from Sivasagar city, 3 km from Simalugur ...

and

Margherita Margherita is an Italian feminine given name. It also is a surname. As a word, in Italian it means " daisy". Given name As a name, it may refer to: *Margherita Aldobrandini (1588–1646), Duchess consort of Parma *Margherita de' Medici (1612 ...

did not go to polls immediately, but they had polls in November 1996.

Background

The

Hiteswar Saikia Hiteswar Saikia (3 October 1936 – 22 April 1996) was the chief minister of Assam for two terms, first from 28 February 1983 to 23 December 1985 and then from 30 June 1991 to 22 April 1996. Family and education Hiteswar Saikia was born on 3 ...

, died in Delhi, on 22 April 1996, just 5 days before the election.

Bhumidhar Barman Bhumidhar Barman (12 October 1931 – 18 April 2021) was an Indian Politician belonging to the Indian National Congress. He was the Chief Minister of Assam from 22 April 1996 to 14 May 1996. He was a member of the Assam Legislative Assembly bei ...

was sworn in as chief-minister, but since the INC wasn't able to form the government after the election, his tenure was just 22 days. In 1993, the breakaway group of the AGP, the

Natun Asom Gana Parishad Natun Asom Gana Parishad ('New Assamese People's Association') was a political party in the Indian state of Assam. NAGP was formed through a split of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). NAGP was led by former Union Law Minister and MP Dinesh Goswami and ...

, merged back with the AGP. Additionally, the AGP formed a five-party alliance before the elections, with the

CPI A consumer price index (CPI) is a price index, the price of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. Changes in measured CPI track changes in prices over time. Overview A CPI is a statistic ...

, the CPI(M), the ASDC and the UMFA.

Result

Elected members

Aftermath

On 6 May 1996, the Minister for Rural Development, and candidate for the Golaghat Assembly constituency,

Nagen Neog Nagen Neog (died 6 May 1996) was an Indian politician from the state of Assam. He served as Member of Assam Legislative Assembly for Golgahat and as Rural Development Minister in the Hiteswar Saikia Cabinet until his assassination. He was the hu ...

was killed, by suspected terrorists. Along with him, 8 other people, including his driver, and 5 bodyguards, also died.

Bye-elections

References

{{Assam elections