After Akhil Gogoi’s hunger strike, CPI(M) protests delayed Assam flood relief

Less than a week after Akhil Gogoi, president of Raijor Dal and an MLA, initiated an indefinite hunger strike demanding urgent financial aid for flood-affected families in Assam, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) organized a protest rally on October 7, 2026. Nirankush Nath, a member of CPI(M) State Secretariat, reported that over 2,000 protesters were arrested amid clashes with police during their unsuccessful attempt to march to Dispur, the state's capital.

The protestors called for immediate relief, rehabilitation for flood victims in eastern Assam, particularly in Charaideo and Sivasagar districts, a judicial inquiry into the June floods' causes, the establishment of a North East Flood Management Authority, acknowledgement of floods and erosion in Assam as a national issue, measures to curb the rising prices of essential commodities, and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's immediate resignation.

The CPI(M) had planned a large-scale march with thousands of participants from across the state, but the police and civil administration blocked assembly and movement of protesters, effectively barricading the entry points to Guwahati. According to Nath, many protestors were intercepted, arrested, and taken to a designated protest site for detention, resulting in scuffles between the protesters and police.

Gogoi's hunger strike entered its sixth day on October 7, 2026, with his demands including ₹10 lakh compensation for each affected family and a CBI investigation into the eastern Assam floods. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma attributed the delay in financial assistance to Gogoi's fast, implying that delaying the relief would prevent him from taking credit for it.