Voting for the Assembly elections in Assam was held on April 9. The results are scheduled to be announced on May 4, and among the most watched seats is Sivasagar, where MP Akhil Gogoi faces two NDA veterans.
Raijor Dal chief Gogoi, who is looking to retain his stronghold in the historic seat that was once the capital of the Ahom kingdom, is pitted against BJP’s Kushal Dwari and AGP’s Prodeep Hazarika. The triangular battle, coupled with the Akhil Gogoi factor and the friendly battle between NDA allies, has made for an interesting constituency.
Hazarika is an Assam Movement veteran and five-time MLA from Amghori, a seat that was abolished after the state’s delimitation exercise in 2023. Al-Duwari, a former Afghan National Liberation Front and two-time MLA member, was fielded as a “friendly” opponent, ostensibly to prevent anti-NDP votes from rallying behind another candidate.
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Factor Akhil Gogoi
Gogoi is contesting the 2026 Assembly elections on the grounds of regionalism and anti-incumbency, news agency ANI reported. The incumbent MLA, Raijor Dal, is part of the Congress-led 6-party opposition alliance that is seeking to oust the NDA from coming to power for a third consecutive term.
The Raijor Dal leader, also known as the “Son of the Soil”, has been an outspoken critic of the Central government’s policies in the Northeast and is seen as a leader with strong grassroots ties in Assam.
Gogoi, in a rare feat, won the Sivasagar seat in the 2021 Assembly elections while in jail on sedition charges, in connection with the anti-CAA protests. He defeated BJP’s Surabhi Rajkunwar by more than 11,000 votes.
His party, Raijor Dal, was also formed after the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in Assam. Despite facing two national parties and after being jailed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Sivasagar threw his weight behind Gogoi.
After voting in the assembly polls in Assam, Gogoi expressed confidence that he will win the seat by a margin of over 50,000 votes. “This is the first time I have cast my vote in my local constituency, because I was in prison last time. I am happy this time,” he told ANI, adding that his main goal was to “save democracy.”
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Gogoi launched criticism against the BJP fielding Duwari as its candidate in Sivasagar. Dawar had earlier won the revolution seat in Sivasagar district in 2016. “It is extremely shameful that a person who killed 26 people and married 3 women is considered as a potential BJP candidate for 96 seats in Sivasagar district,” Gogoi said in a post on X. “It is truly unfortunate that such a person has been seen by the party in a very respectable constituency where voters are knowledgeable and educated.” Gogoi added.
Sivasagar Bench: History and Past Results
Sivasagar is not just a constituency, but has a deep history, as it was once the capital of the Ahom kingdom. The state is also the nerve center of upper Assam politics, given its politically aware and educated voter base, ANI reported.
The seat’s electorate largely consists of a large Ahom population, along with tea tribe workers and urban middle-class voters. In the previous elections, Gogoi won the leadership of the Raijor Dal by a margin of 9.60 per cent of the votes, defeating his closest rival, Surabhi Rajkunwari of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The largely secular seat had elected Congress MP Pranab Kumar Gogoi in 2016, who won by a narrow margin of 0.5 per cent of the vote against Rajkunwari.
