Guwahati, April 3: The second battle of Saraighat is upon Assam.

Or so it would seem, given the manner in which the ruling Congress and the BJP, the two key players in the two-phase polarised as never before<>.

Like the historic battle between the Ahoms and the Mughals in 1671, freely invoked by the two rival parties to woo voters (see chart), the state is on the cusp of history, whichever way the scales tilt, when the ballots are counted on May 19.

The Saraighat metaphor, though, comes with a twist. While for the BJP it means a battle against illegal Bangladeshi Muslims - and by default, according to them, the AIUDF - the Congress is quick to point out that Bagh Hajorika, one of the main Ahom commanders in the battle of Saraighat, was an Assamese Muslim.

Gogoi, in this case, refers to the BJP's disconnect with Assam's history and the fact that a large indigenous Muslim population isn't known to side with the BJP. For the record, Assam has a Muslim population of around 34.2 per cent.

The contest has clearly turned into one between Assamese identity and divisive politics, where the BJP's jati, mati and bheti is up against the Congress's inclusive plank. The nuances aren't lost on the electorate. And many of them are worried.

In a joint statement issued yesterday, 43 of Assam's well-known and respected intellectuals and writers, including Hiren Gohain and Udayaditya Bharali, had appealed to the voters "not to vote" for the BJP because of its "fascist and communal character". Their stand was simple: Don't vote for the BJP but vote for anybody who respects democratic practices.

While their stand has drawn flak from certain quarters of the media believed to have political leanings, they have stuck to their guns.

Before them, a Majuli xatradhikar had spoken out against Hindutva espoused by the RSS. "We are Assamese first, Hindus next," he had said.

While the BJP is seeking a vote for parivartan to unseat the "corrupt Congress which, it says, has a 'secret' understanding with the AIUDF", the Congress is quick to point out the BJP's U-turn: opposing the land-swap deal with Bangladesh while in Opposition and then giving land to Bangladesh after coming to power; opposing the construction of big dams and then supporting it and its unfulfilled tall promise of giving Rs 15 lakh to each citizen of India.

Add to this the removal of Assam's special-category state status.

Finally, these elections come just about two years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised that Bangladeshis would be removed from Assam if his party came to power at the Centre - a promise that has not been delivered.

In the absence of any perceptible wave in favour of either the Congress (which has allied with the United People's Party in the BTAD) or the BJP-AGP-BPF alliance, the Assam vote has become too tight to call. However, the Congress still seems to be the party to beat, despite 15 years of, what the Opposition claims, "accumulated" anti-incumbency.

Even the opinion polls have not been able to predict which group will be getting majority, barring one in favour of the BJP-led alliance.

The AIUDF, against which both the Congress and the BJP are publicly arraigned against, could play the spoiler, making it a key post-poll player if there is a hung mandate.

The import of the Assam outcome, like the Battle of Saraighat, could have a national resonance.

It is after losing Delhi and Bihar that the BJP is now fighting in five states, including Assam.

A loss in Assam could further dent Brand Modi.

His four visits to Assam before the first phase tomorrow, similar to the number of trips undertaken by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, convey the political importance the two parties are attaching to the state.

A loss for the Congress will mean that the little bit of revival witnessed in Bihar was a false dawn. It will be another blot on Rahul's electoral scoresheet.

The national import apart, the Assembly elections, in particular, holds special significance for chief minister Tarun Gogoi, his blue-eyed boy-turned-bête noire Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam PCC president Anjan Dutta, BJP's chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, AGP president Atul Bora and his predecessor Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.

A lot has changed for the Congress, and Gogoi, since 2011 when it retained power with 78 seats followed by the AIUDF with 18, the BPF with 12, AGP with 10 and the BJP with five.

It has been a journey downhill since, with the party suffering a debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, winning only three of the 14 seats as a result of the nationwide Modi wave and intra-party fighting.

Gogoi survived the infighting but the party bled. It has just about recovered to fight another day.

Gogoi has now gone all out to take on the Opposition alliance as well as the AIUDF, becoming the face of the party's campaign, having turned it into a Gogoi-versus-Modi battle.

A win will see him create history by retaining power for the fourth straight term and walk into the sunset with his I-told-you-so smile. A loss will mean the end of the road for the longest-serving chief minister of the state.

A lot has changed for Sarma, too, since the heady days of 2011. He is in a new party, new attire and new ideology, in sharp contrast to his Congress days.

Like Gogoi, he has become the lifeline of the BJP's campaign in the state, the outcome of which will redefine his career. A win will see him enjoy a pride of place both in the government and the party, making up for all he had lost while leaving the Congress.

It will also be historic for the BJP to assume power for the first time in Assam. A loss, on the other hand, will mean a huge setback for him, leaving him open to flak from both from within and outside the BJP.

It is in this backdrop that Assam goes to the polls tomorrow. History beckons.