Baijayant Panda to lead BJP's Assam election campaign: Why did the party pick former BJD leader?

In 2019, Baijayant Panda switched to the BJP following his departure from Naveen Patnaik’s BJD.

The BJP on Monday announced the appointment of Baijayant Panda, its national vice president, as the election in-charge for the Assam assembly election in 2026. BJP leaders Sunil Kumar Sharma and Darshana Ben Jardosh will be the co-in-charges.

The appointments were made as part of the BJP’s organisational strategy to strengthen its election preparedness in the northeastern state ahead of the Assembly elections where the party will be aiming to win a third consecutive term.

Welcoming the decision, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed confidence that the new leadership team would strengthen the party’s campaign.

In a post on X, Sarma said he was pleased to welcome Panda as election in-charge and expressed optimism that the NDA would secure a historic third consecutive mandate in the state.

With the aim of contesting 103 of the 126 seats in the Assembly, the Assam BJP unit has already formed 36 committees.

Who is Baijayant Panda?

Panda graduated from Michigan Technological University and has a background in engineering and management.

In 2019, he switched to the BJP following his departure from Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which had accused him of anti-party conduct.

In the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he was appointed as the BJP’s election in-charge for Uttar Pradesh.

Why did BJP pick Panda for Assam?

Soon after his induction in the BJP, Panda was appointed the poll in-charge for the Assam election in 2021. The incumbent BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) retained power with 75 seats. Himanta Biswa Sarma became the chief minister of Assam.

Panda was also said to be the quiet force which worked behind the scenes to help the BJP defeat Arvind Kejriwal and win the 2025 Delhi election. The party came to power in the national capital after 27 years.

Besides his strategic acumen, Panda is also learnt to enjoy the trust of the BJP’s top leadership. As the BJP returned with a 48-seat win in the 70-member assembly, Panda’s prediction came true. "BJP will win comfortably, likely with a two-thirds majority," Panda said in January.

After the victory, Panda said the biggest reason was the guarantee of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the promises made in the BJP manifesto will be fulfilled. “People have unwavering faith in this. And this is the biggest reason that we won and the 'AAP-da' that was imposed on Delhi, the kind of corruption, the kind of false promises, the kind of fights they had every day, there was no name for development. People wanted to change this and our lakhs of workers were working hard for months," Panda said.

After the Delhi election victory, political observers said Panda’s success could pave the way for bigger responsibilities within BJP’s national framework. They thought his role of an election strategist may see him leading more crucial state battles in the future.

For the 2026 Assam election, the election in-charge team will work closely with the state BJP leadership, including the state president, organisation general secretary and office-bearers, to oversee campaign planning, candidate selection and overall election management.