The prestigious Jorhat Lok Sabha seat is set to witness a fierce contest between two prominent political figures from the Ahom community, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) sitting MP Topon Kumar Gogoi and Congress candidate Gaurav Gogoi.
The seat is currently being held by BJP’s Topon Kumar Gogoi. He has been repeated by the party from the state.
However, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi’s decision to contest the elections from Jorhat, instead of his family’s stronghold Kaziranga (erstwhile Kaliabor) — from where he is sitting MP — has made the contest interesting.
With Ahom voters making up 32.25% of the total 17 lakh electorate in Jorhat constituency, both candidates are relying heavily on their support to emerge victorious in the elections.
The Ahom community, with around 5.5 lakh voters, holds the key to victory in the Jorhat seat. Being from the same community, both Topon (55) and Gaurav (44) are competing for the votes of the Ahom voters.
Having previously served as the general secretary of the All Assam Students’ Union (Aasu), incumbent BJP MP Topon is an influential figure in the constituency. On the other hand, Congress candidate Gaurav comes from a political lineage as the son of former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi, who enjoyed immense popularity during his tenure.
Gaurav, who is the deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, will be seeking to capitalise on the goodwill and support that his father enjoyed among the people of the constituency. With the redrawn boundaries of his previous constituency, Kaliabor, Gaurav has made a strategic move to contest from Jorhat, where his father had also previously won elections in 1971 and 1977.
In the 2019 elections, Topon defeated Congress candidate Sushanta Borgohain by a margin of 82,653 votes in the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat, while Gaurav Gogoi emerged victorious in the Kaliabor Lok Sabha seat by defeating the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) candidate Moni Madhav Mahanta by a margin of 2,09,994 votes.
Political career of Topon Kumar Gogoi:
Topon Gogoi won the Sonari seat in the Assam Assembly elections of 2016 and was inducted into the Sarbananda Sonowal cabinet as the Power Minister. A former All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), Gogoi won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections securing 51.35% of the votes defeating Congress’s (INC) Sushanta Borgohain.
In the 2016 Assam assembly elections too he defeated Congress candidate Sarat Barkataky by a margin of 24,117 votes.
Political career of Gaurav Gogoi:
Gaurav Gogoi won the Kaliabor seat twice in 2014 and 2019 as a Congress candidate. In 2014 he won the seat with 4,43,032 votes defeating BJP’s Mrinal Kumar Saikia and in 2019, Gaurav Gogoi won the seat with a better number of 7,85,014 votes defeating AGP’s Moni Madhab Mahanta.
The battle for the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat has emerged as a high-stakes showdown between Topon and Gaurav, with the Ahom voters at the centre of the political discourse. The political rivalry between the two candidates, both belonging to the Ahom community, has injected a new level of excitement and anticipation into the electoral contest.
Earlier this month, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma held a campaign rally in support of BJP’s candidate, Topon Kumar Gogoi, in Titabor Bokahola Bagisa, Jorhat.
He was seen dancing on stage during an election campaign. Sarma enthusiastically clapped and danced to a popular Jhumur song.
Assam CM Sarma has also exuded confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) will register victory in all five seats of the region by a significant margin.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed an election rally in Assam’s Nalbari on Wednesday. He asked people to switch on the flashlights of their mobile phones as the ‘Surya Tilak’ ritual of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya was being performed.
Earlier on Tuesday, he also held a roadshow in Assam’s Guwahati in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi also held a roadshow in Assam’s Jorhat on Tuesday and campaigned for Gaurav Gogoi.
About Jorhat Lok Sabha seat:
Jorhat Lok Sabha seat is one of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam. Lok Sabha elections for the seat has been held 11 times since 1971 to 2019 and the Indian National Congress (INC) has won the seat eight times, an independent candidate won it once and the BJP won the seat twice.
In 2019, Topon Gogoi (BJP) won the seat with 5,43,288 votes
In 2014, Kamakhya Prasad Tasa (BJP) won the seat with 4,56,420 votes
In 2009, Bijoy Krishna Handique (INC) won the seat with 3,62,320 votes
In 2004, Bijoy Krishna Handique (INC) won the seat with 2,23,624 votes
In 1999, Bijoy Krishna Handique (INC) won the seat with 3,04,690 votes
In 1998, Bijoy Krishna Handique (INC) won the seat with 2,16,406 votes
In 1996, Bijoy Krishna Handique (INC) won the seat with 3,11,578 votes
In 1991, Bijoy Krishna Handique (INC) won the seat with 2,39,369 votes
In 1985, Parag Chaliha won the seat with 2,88,540 votes
In 1977, Tarun Gogoi won the seat with 1,48,902 votes
In 1971, Tarun Gogoi won the seat with 1,02,820 votes
Assembly seats that Jorhat comprises of:
Jorhat has 10 Assembly seats – Sonari, Mahmara, Demow, Sibsagar, Nazira, Majuli, Teok, Jorhat, Mariani and Titabar. Except for Titabar and Nazira, the rest of the Assembly seats are held by BJP and AGP (an ally of BJP) and Sibsagar is with Akhil Gogoi and Independent.
The Lok Sabha polls for 14 seats in Assam will be held in three phases starting on April 19. Out of this, five seats will go to the polls in the first phase of elections on April 19.
BJP is contesting on 11 out of 14 seats in Assam, while its ally parties, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), are contesting in two seats (Barpeta and Dhubri) and UPPL in one seat (Kokrajhar), respectively.
Notably, the BJP has expanded its footprint in the state. From winning 5 seats in Assam in 2009, it has risen to 7 in 2014 and 9 in 2019. The party is also in power in the state since 2016.
As the BJP aims to further expand its dominance, and Congress is trying to wrestle back power, it has made the ‘Gogoi v Gogoi’ contest in Jorhat interesting, with sitting BJP MP Topon Kumar Gogoi being up against Congress’ challenger Gaurav Gogoi.
