Two years after winning the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat, defeating BJP MP Topon Kumar Gogoi, Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, 43, is back in the electoral fray. Gaurav Gogoi, a three-time MP since 2014, is contesting his first parliamentary election against Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hitendra Nath Goswami, 67, from Jorhat.
Goswami and Gaurav Gogoi filed their nomination papers on Monday. Jorhat, a Congress stronghold, has elected Goswami twice since 2016. The candidates are seen as men who do not indulge in slander. “I have participated in many elections from Jorhat, but I have never seen such a large number of supporters joining me when I filed nomination papers,” Goswami said.
Before submitting his papers, Gaurav Gogoi said that politics in Assam has reached its lowest point in the last 10 years under the BJP rule. “This is a historic opportunity for voters across the state to change and cleanse that,” Gogoi said.
Both the Congress and the BJP have a strong presence in Jorhat. “Both candidates seem to have an equal chance of winning. Both Gogoi and Goswami are well-educated and enjoy a lot of support from voters due to their generous personality,” said Babu Saikia, a resident of Jorhat. “Both candidates have a clean image and do not indulge in personal attacks. This will be a tough choice for voters.”
Gaurav Gogoi’s father, former chief minister late Tarun Gogoi, started his political career in 1968 as a municipal councilor in Jorhat. He represented the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat three times from 1971 to 1984.
Goswami has represented the Jorhat Assembly seat five times since 1991, three times as an Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and twice as a BJP legislator. The AGP is part of the ruling BJP-led coalition in Assam.
Goswami, a lawyer-turned-politician, was a minister in the AGP government from 1996 to 2001. He served as the association’s president from 2017 to 2021.
Goswami described Gaurav Gogoi as a good orator. “But the people of Jorhat will support me. There are 10 Lok Sabha constituencies within the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat… Gogoi cannot give a report on what he has done for our Assembly seat in the last two years since he became an MP,” Goswami said.
He called for setting up of Jorhat Medical College, super specialty ward of the hospital and ensuring clean water supply to every family in the city among his priorities if re-elected.
Gaurav Gogoi said Goswami is similar to Bhisma Pitama from Jorhat, and he knows the constituency well. “I respect him, but I will enter the poll fray like Arjun and do my bit to win these elections,” Gogoi said.
Goswami said he does not mind being compared with a prominent figure from the Mahabharat, but the election battle is different, and he will win.
