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In a decisive show of strength, the alliance secured 300 out of 376 Zilla Parishad seats, capturing more than 76 per cent of the vote share

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has secured a sweeping victory in the 2025 Assam Panchayat elections, consolidating its political dominance in the state.

In a decisive show of strength, the alliance secured 300 out of 376 Zilla Parishad seats, capturing more than 76 per cent of the vote share.

This landslide win not only reflects the alliance’s widespread grassroots support but also underscores the growing confidence of the electorate in its governance model.

The ruling alliance also fared impressively in the Anchalik Panchayat elections, winning 1,436 out of 2,192 seats across the state.

With a substantial vote share of 66 per cent in these local bodies, the NDA has demonstrated its strong foothold at the village and block levels.

This robust performance marks a significant milestone for the BJP and its allies, particularly in the run-up to the 2026 state Assembly elections.

Reacting to the panchayat poll results, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took to social media platform X to express gratitude to the people of the state.

He credited the victory to the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and highlighted the public’s endorsement of the NDA’s welfare-oriented governance.

CM Sarma extended special thanks to BJP leaders JP Nadda, Amit Shah, and BL Santhosh for their support during the campaign.

He also emphasised that this performance represents a substantial improvement over the 2018 state Panchayat polls.

The vote share has surged by 25 per cent compared to the last election, indicating a strong pro-incumbency sentiment.

“These results come a year after our remarkable showing in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and just a year before the 2026 Assembly elections,” CM Sarma noted, calling the Panchayat polls victory as a powerful momentum-builder for the BJP in the state.

Meanwhile, Union Home minister Amit Shah congratulated the people of Assam for this thumping victory.

In an X post, Amit Shah wrote, “Gratitude to the people of Assam for granting the NDA a historic victory in the Panchayat Election 2025. This victory is an endorsement of PM @narendramodi Ji’s people-centric policies that have brought about a new era of peace and prosperity in Assam. My heartfelt congratulations to CM @himantabiswa Ji, Assam BJP President @DilipSaikia4Bjp Ji, and the @BJP4Assam Karyakartas for their dedicated efforts to carry Modi Ji’s message of development door-to-door.”

“Together, we will build a developed Assam for all,” he added.

Ice-breaking sessions for freshers during their first week on campus, morning walks with faculty members, mandatory counselling sessions and comprehensive medical check-ups, and stress escape room workshops are part of IIT-Guwahati’s plan to ensure students’ mental wellbeing and prevent suicides.

The measures come after the institute faced massive protests last semester following back-to-back student suicides.

According to Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Guwahati Director Devendra Jalihal, the institute has chalked out a comprehensive plan to prevent suicides among students.

“We have established a dedicated mental health and counselling system in the form of a Center for Holistic Wellbeing. SAATHI Counselling Club, a part of this centre consisting of student volunteers, supports fellow students in their mental and overall wellbeing with the help of professional counsellors,” he told PTI.

“We are exploring roping in retired army personnel as hostel special stewards who will routinely interact with the students to make them comfortable and share their observations with the counsellors. All of this will be done in a confidential manner and while ensuring that the students do not feel intimidated or there is no violation of their privacy,” Jalihal said.

Nutritionists are also being hired to help the students with diets that can help address anxiety and stress, he added.

Faced by suicides among students, several IITs are taking different measures to address concerns over their mental health.

Perumal Alagarsamy, the dean of student affairs at IIT-Guwahati, is spearheading the mental wellbeing initiatives on campus.

“We have decided that for the first week, when the freshers arrive on campus, there will be no classes but an acclimatisation programme so they do not feel out of place. The students will be invited for morning walks with faculty members so they are able to build a rapport with each other before entering the classroom,” Alagarsamy told PTI.

“The Peer Mentorship Programne aligns with this notion by assigning peer mentors to the new students. These mentors (will) play a pivotal role in providing relevant information, clearing doubts, and assisting with various challenges, serving as guiding lights for the newcomers when they feel lost,” he added.

As soon as the freshers arrive on campus, an ice-breaking session will be conducted to establish a warm and inclusive atmosphere and facilitate connections, Alagarsamy explained.

“These sessions aim to raise awareness about mental health and overall wellbeing while acquainting the students with the resources and the support available through the Counselling Cell and the Center for Holistic Wellbeing,” he said.

“These ice-breaking sessions will be conducted within each hostel to help expand the students’ social networks, enabling them to connect with their peers through enjoyable games and activities,” he added.

To help the students cope with the pressure of semester examinations, the SAATHI Counselling Club recently conducted a stress escape room workshop aimed at sharing knowledge on dealing with and manage stress and exploring entrepreneurship and career choices.

The institute has four full-time counsellors while Your Dost — a start-up incubated at IIT-Guwahati — has been roped in to provide round-the-clock access to the counsellors.

Mandatory interactions will be scheduled with the counsellors for all students so any early signs can be identified and mandatory comprehensive health checks conducted.

“The counselling schedule will be prepared in such a way that they do not coincide with the academic timetable. These mandatory interactions will help the students familiarise themselves with the counsellors and the counselling services available on campus,” Alagarsamy said.

“This will also remove the stigma associated with seeking help for mental health concerns, emphasising that it is a perfectly acceptable and normal thing to do,” he added.

Expressing dissatisfaction over it, AIUDF MLA Rafiqul Islam maintained that it was a decision imposed on the strength of numbers.

The decades-old Assam Assembly tradition of a two-hour break to facilitate Muslim legislators to offer ‘namaz’ on Fridays was discontinued for the first time during the ongoing budget session. The decision to do away with the break was taken in the last session of the House in August, but implemented from this sitting.

Expressing dissatisfaction over it, AIUDF MLA Rafiqul Islam maintained that it was a decision imposed on the strength of numbers.

“There are about 30 Muslim MLAs in the assembly. We had expressed our views against the move. But they (the BJP) have the numbers and are imposing it on the basis of that,” Islam said.

Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia of the Congress said provision can be made for the Muslim MLAs to offer ‘namaz’ nearby on Fridays.

“Today, several of my party colleagues and AIUDF MLAs missed important discussion as they went to offer ‘namaz’. Since it is a special prayer requirement only for Fridays, I think a provision can be made for it nearby,” he said.

The decision to discontinue the nearly 90-year-old practice was taken by the Rules Committee of the House, headed by the Speaker, in August last year.

Speaker Biswajit Daimary, “in view of the secular nature of the Constitution, had proposed that the Assam Legislative Assembly must conduct its proceedings on Fridays like any other day”, which was placed before the Rules Committee and passed unanimously.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had welcomed the decision, stating that it was a practice introduced by the Muslim League’s Syed Saadulla in 1937, and the decision to discontinue the break “prioritised productivity and shed another vestige of colonial baggage”.

Congress legislators had attended the Assembly wearing black attire to protest against BJP MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi, who had verbally abused opposition MLAs and reportedly attempted to assault them inside the House.

The Assam Assembly on Monday witnessed a ruckus after the ruling party accused Congress MLA Nurul Huda of allegedly attacking Deputy Speaker Numal Momin outside the House, leading to adjournment.

Earlier in the day, Congress legislators had attended the Assembly wearing black attire to protest against BJP MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi, who had verbally abused opposition MLAs and reportedly attempted to assault them inside the House during the previous week.

Before the session commenced, the Congress members staged a sit-in protest outside the Speaker’s chamber, demanding disciplinary action against Mr Kurmi.

During the Question Hour, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed the House: “I received a WhatsApp message from Momin stating that he was attacked by Nurul Huda and is now hospitalised. I urge the Speaker to file a police case since the incident took place outside the House, which would allow the police to investigate.”

Interestingly, Mr Momin had been seen attending the session moments before the alleged incident but left the House shortly afterwards.

Speaker Biswajit Daimary assured the members that he had instructed officials to look into the matter.

Reacting to the Chief Minister’s statement, Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia called for a House Committee to investigate the alleged attack, arguing that it occurred within the Assembly premises and therefore warranted internal scrutiny rather than police involvement.

The situation further escalated as opposition members, including those from Congress, AIUDF, and CPI-M, entered the Well of the House, protesting against Mr Kurmi’s behaviour and disputing the ruling party’s claims about the incident involving Momin.

Treasury bench members, led by CM Sarma, countered the protests, claiming that the opposition had attacked Momin, who belongs to an indigenous tribal community.

“This sets a dangerous precedent. An indigenous tribal has been attacked within the Assembly complex, and this is bound to become a serious issue,” CM Sarma warned.

Amid the rising tension and commotion, Speaker Daimary announced that he had asked the Assembly Secretary to verify Momin’s condition and briefly adjourned the House for 10 minutes in an attempt to restore order.

Mr Mozumder was granted bail by the First Class Judicial Magistrate Hirak Jyoti Das on a surety of Rs 20,000.

Arrested Assam journalist Dilwar Hussain Mozumder was granted bail by a court on Friday, a day after he was re-arrested in a second case immediately after his release on bail in the first case filed by a bank official when he had gone to cover a protest against financial irregularities in the institution.

Mr Mozumder was granted bail by the First Class Judicial Magistrate Hirak Jyoti Das on a surety of Rs 20,000.

The Chief Reporter of the digital portal ‘The Crosscurrent’ will, however, stay in judicial custody for the night as it was late for the formalities to be completed.

His lawyers said that the formalities for furnishing the bond will be done on Saturday.

Mr Mozumder was rearrested in a case filed by the managing director of the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank Limited D Saikia on Tuesday, which was not disclosed to his family and lawyers earlier, for allegedly attempting to steal valuable bank documents.

The complainant had alleged that when the bank employees noticed the accused, they raised an alarm, causing the accused to flee the scene.

During the incident, the accused disturbed the bank’s operations, threatened the employees, and made caste-based derogatory remarks towards the security guard, who belongs to the ST community, and a case was registered in the Panbazar police station for criminal trespass, mischief causing loss or damage criminal intimidation,”robbery” as a type of theft or extortion involving threats or actual harm and voluntarily causing hurt under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The police took Mr Mozumder to his residence twice in the morning and seized some documents.

Mr Mozumder was initially arrested on Tuesday midnight after being detained for over nine hours by the police after he had questioned the managing director of the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank Limited about alleged financial irregularities in the institution during a protest programme here by the students’ wing of a political party.

Mr Mozumder, who is also the assistant general secretary of the Gauhati Press Club, was first arrested under Section 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for criminal intimidation or the act of threatening someone to harm them or force them to do something, read with relevant sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

He was granted bail for a surety of Rs 20,000 but was not released the same day as the formalities could not be completed and he was sent to judicial custody.

His lawyers waited the whole day on Thursday to complete the formalities for his release but when the bond was furnished, police rearrested Mr Mozumder in connection with the second case and whisked him away from Guwahati Central Jail to Panbazar police station.

The Gauhati Press Club (GPC), in an emergent executive meeting, decided to protest Mr Mozumder’s arrest and all journalists will wear black badges at their workplaces while performing their duties from Friday to Sunday.

It was also decided that a general meeting of all journalists will be held to discuss the issue of ‘Safety of Journalists’ and a memorandum will be prepared to submit to appropriate authorities, according to a GPC statement.

The Press Club of India (PCI), in a statement, expressed ‘shock’ at the re-arrest of the senior digital media journalist and also concern that an attempt was made to shift the attention from the core issue – that of preventing a journalist from carrying out his official duty which is a grave infringement of the freedom of press guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (A) of the Constitution.

The Assam Women Journalists’ Forum (AWJF) also condemned the rearrest of Mr Mozumder in a second case after he was granted bail in the first by a Gauhati court following his arrest on Tuesday midnight.

The AWJF expressed concern that a narrative is being used to undermine journalists who might not fit into the government’s definition of a ‘legitimate’ journalist, with some sections also attempting to malign certain journalists, including women media persons, a statement issued by the forum said.

The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) also condemned the ”vindictive arrest and re-arrest” of Mozumder and congratulated Assam journalists for organising protests demanding his release.

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