Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday said that the Congress would join hands with other secular forces in the state to fight the state elections in early 2016. Taking inspiration from the Bihar Assembly elections, Gogoi said he felt there should be a “maha understanding” between anti-Bharatiya Janata Party forces, to take on “communal and divisive outfits” in Assam and states around it. While the Congress is unlikely to forge any official alliances as they could win alone, Gogoi said, they might still work together with parties that have a similar ideology.

The Times of India reported that Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Partap Singh Bajwa also echoed Gogoi’s statement and said the coalition method could be tried for polls in his state as well, which are to be held in 2017. Bajwa added that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s agenda in Punjab was to radicalise it, like it did all other minority states.

The Congress was part of the Grand Alliance in Bihar along with Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) and Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal. Joining hands with the two most popular parties in the state helped the Congress record its most convincing performance yet in Bihar, while creating a formidable opposition against the BJP. It appears other states are now keen on replicating this strategy.