Saikia was born on 14 December 1964, in Nazira in the district of Sivasagar, Assam. His father, Hiteswar Saikia, was a former chief minister of Assam, while his mother, Dr Hemoprova Saikia, was a former member of the Assam Assembly. His mother is also a former chairman of Assam Tourism Development Corporation.
Saikia’s career in politics started formally in the year 1992-93 when he became the General Secretary of Assam Pradesh Youth Congress Committee and the Self-Employed Review Committee. Between 1993 and 1996, Saikia was the Vice President of Assam Pradesh Youth Congress. In 1994, he was also appointed as State Convener of Bichar Bibhag by the All India Congress Committee. Later, he also served as a Convener, North East Congress Seva Dal in 1995–96.
In 2011, Saikia became the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Nazira constituency. In 2016, despite a Bharatiya Janta Party wave in the state, Saikia was able to retain his seat in the state elections. With Congress losing the election, and most of the senior state leaders also losing their seats, Saikia emerged as an acceptable face within the party to lead the party in the Assembly. With the blessings of party high-command and the 26 Congress MLAs who managed to win, Saikia became the Leader of Opposition on 3rd June 2016.
Congress will be fighting the 2021 Assam Assembly elections without Congress stalwart Tarun Gogoi who died in 2020, falling prey to Coronavirus. His son, Gaurav Gogoi, and senior leader Sushmita Dev, are already out of the CM race. Saikia can again emerge as the acceptable face for the post of CM if Congress and its allies manage to win the Assam elections in 2021.
