Golaghat (Assam) [India], March 22 : Assam Congress President and party's candidate from Jorhat seat, Gaurav Gogoi, on Sunday termed the State Assembly elections as a contest between Congress turncoats and the followers of former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was once part of Congress before switching to the BJP in 2015, will contest the elections from his traditional Jalukbari seat. Recently, senior Congress leaders Pradyut Bordoloi and Bhupen Borah also joined the BJP.
Reacting to this, Gogoi said the BJP in Assam has lost its existence, and is merely a party run by Congress turncoats under the leadership of CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
"The election will be contested between the old Congressmen led by Himanta Biswa Sarma and us, who are following the ideals of the late Tarun Gogoi. The BJP no longer exists. The BJP in Assam is now run solely by those who left the Congress and are under the leadership of Himanta Biswa Sarma. The old, staunch BJP members are no longer there," Gogoi told reporters, invoking his father, Tarun Gogoi, the Congress stalwart and Assam's longest serving Chief Minister from 2001 to 2016.
BJP has fielded Pradyut Bordoloi from Dispur after he ended his life-long association with Congress and joined the party in the presence of Himanta Biswa Sarma. Former Congress state president, Bhupen Kumar Borah, who jumped ship weeks before, will contest from Bihpuria, a seat which he lost to BJP candidates in the last two elections.
Earlier today, senior Congress leader Pawan Khera said that the party remains united and continues to fight the elections with full strength even though several leaders have switched to the BJP.
"Everyone is fighting together. Those who had to leave have left. Those who are here are working strongly with Gaurav Gogoi to carry out this election. Gaurav Gogoi is our captain of the ship, so it's obvious that he is the biggest face," he said.
He also alleged widespread dissatisfaction with the BJP government in Assam, pointing to issues like corruption and governance.
"As I told you, there's a lot of resentment among the people on the ground. Corruption is rampant, and there's a rule of hooliganism, a corrupt government, a rule of smugglers. So, all these things are completely unacceptable to the people," Khera added.
Congress, as Gaurav Gogoi said, is set to contest on 100 of the 126 Assembly seats and has allied with Assam Jatiya Parishad, Raijor Dal, CPI(M), CPI(ML) and the All Party Hill Leaders Conference. Raijor Dal is set to contest on 11 seats.
The polling for all 126 Assembly constituencies will be held in a single phase on April 9, while the counting of votes is scheduled for May 4, the Election Commission of India announced.
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