Two years after winning the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat, defeating Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s sitting parliamentarian Topon Kumar Gogoi, Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi, 43, is back in the electoral fray. Gaurav Gogoi, a three-time Parliament member since 2014, is contesting his first assembly election against the BJP’s Hitendra Nath Goswami, 67, from Jorhat. Gaurav Gogoi filed his nomination papers on Monday. (X)
Goswami and Gaurav Gogoi filed their nomination papers on Monday. A Congress stronghold, Jorhat has elected Goswami twice since 2016. The two candidates are seen as gentlemen who do not indulge in mud-slinging. “I have contested many elections from Jorhat, but had never seen such a large number of supporters turning out to join me as I submitted nomination papers,” said Goswami.
Ahead of submitting his papers, Gaurav Gogoi said politics in Assam has reached a low over the past 10 years under the BJP rule. “This is a historic opportunity for voters across the state to change that and cleanse it,” Gogoi said .
Both Congress and the BJP have a strong presence in Jorhat. “Both candidates seem to have an equal chance of winning. Both Gogoi and Goswami are well-educated and enjoy a lot of support from voters due to their dignified personalities,” said Babu Saikia, a Jorhat resident. “Both candidates have a clean image and do not indulge in personal attacks. It will be a tough choice for voters.”
Gaurav Gogoi’s father, the late former chief minister Tarun Gogoi, started his political career in 1968 as a municipal councillor in Jorhat. He represented the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat thrice from 1971 to 1984.
Goswami has represented the Jorhat assembly seat five times since 1991, thrice as an Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and twice as a BJP lawmaker. AGP is part of the BJP-led ruling coalition in Assam.
A lawyer-turned-politician, Goswami was a minister in the AGP government from 1996 to 2001. He served as the assembly speaker from 2017 to 2021.
Goswami called Gaurav Gogoi a good orator. “But the people of Jorhat will support me. There are 10 assembly constituencies within the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat...Gogoi cannot submit a report card on what he has done for our assembly seat in the past two years since becoming a Parliament member,” said Goswami.
He called setting up Jorhat Medical College and Hospital’s super-speciality wing and ensuring a clean water supply to each household in the town among his priorities if he is re-elected.
Gaurav Gogoi said Goswami is like the Bhisma Pitamah of Jorhat, and he knows the constituency very well. “I respect him, but will enter the poll battle like Arjun and will do my duty to win this election,” said Gogoi.
Goswami said he does not mind the comparison with a prominent figure from the Mahabharat, but the electoral battle is different, and he will win.