While an upstart born in the aftermath of the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests manages to hold its own against the principal Opposition party, the one synonymous with regionalism in Assam is in terminal decline even after enjoying the perks of power for the past decade.

The Raijor Dal, with party chief Akhil Gogoi its sole MLA in the outgoing Assembly and that too as an Independent contesting from jail, has managed to wrangle 11 seats from the Congress after calling off alliance talks and announcing candidates for 13 seats.