GUWAHATI: One of the high-profile constituencies in Assam Legislative Assembly Elections is Jalukbari. The constituency has been the fortress of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and NEDA convener, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma since 2001. Sarma, who contested for the first time on a Congress ticket in 1996 got 29,318 votes and lost to Asom Gana Parishad stalwart Brighu Kumar Phukan who polled 46,446 votes. But in 2001, Himanta Biswa Sarma made a comeback and defeated Phukan with around 10,000 votes. Sarma has retained the seat since then for four terms.
Dr. Sarma won the seat for the fourth time in 2016 on a BJP ticket and received 118,390 votes. This magical rise in vote share is due to his connect with the voters of Jalukbari constituency.
It is interesting to note that till date no political party has nominated any candidate for the Jalukbari constituency to contest against Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma. Jalukbari will go to the polls in the third phase on 6 April.
A few weeks ago, Lurinjyoti Gogoi, president of newly-formed Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) had announced that his party will put up a good contender against Dr. Sarma in Jalukbari. The former student leader announced this at an AJP party event in Sualkuchi – the Manchester of East – that falls under Jalukbari constituency.
According to sources, the BJP workers of Jalukbari are eagerly waiting for an announcement of this AJP candidate. It is well-known that apart from the BJP no other party has any strong organisational presence in Jalukbari. The constituency has been under the tight grip of Dr. Sarma who has done commendable work and it is no surprise that till date nobody has come ahead to contest from this seat.
