Congress Assam unit president Gaurav Gogoi, who contested his first election to the Assembly, lost the Jorhat seat, and it was retained by Hitendra Nath Goswami of the BJP. The BJP was set to retain power in the state as it took a lead of 78 seats in the 126-member Assembly.
At 2:25 pm, the Congress was leading in 21 of the 99 seats from which it had fielded candidates. Her coalition partner, Raigor Dhal, was leading in two seats. In 2016 and 2021, Congress won 26 and 29 seats.
Gogoi, son of late former Prime Minister Tarun Gogoi and Lok Sabha member from Jorhat, polled 46,257 votes. Goswami, former president of the state assembly, got 69,439 votes.
Dibrugarh University political science professor Kaustubh Deka said it was a do-or-die election for the party. With the party losing some of its strong seats, it will be very difficult for Congress to come back.”
Deka said a Congress victory or the party performing better than in the previous elections could have increased Gaurav Gogoi’s standing. But if this does not happen and losing the Jorhat seat will be a setback for his political ambitions in state politics,” Deka said.
Debabrata Saikia, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, was lagging behind in his constituency Nazira in Sibsagar district.
