Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi set to battle it out from new seat

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, April 11

What was once considered a weakness has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Gaurav Gogoi, Congress candidate from Jorhat in Assam.

Gaurav grew up in Delhi where his father Tarun Gogoi, then a Union Minister, was stationed. He later went abroad moving farther away from his native state, Assam. Gogoi was the Chief Minister when Gaurav fought his first Lok Sabha elections from Kaliabor in Assam.

Back from the US, Gaurav was somewhat stranger in his own land when he made his electoral debut in 2014. He won the election and then returned to Delhi. But he has been able to make an impression on his people back home with his performance as an MP.

“Gaurav has a good command over both English and Hindi languages and he argues superbly,” an Assam Police IGP told this reporter over the phone from Guwahati.

In Assam, people are proud of Gaurav’s rise to the post of Deputy Leader of the Congress in Parliament. “People were pleased when Gaurav moved the no-confidence motion in Parliament last year brought by the combined Opposition on the issue of government inaction in Manipur. Seldom an MP from Assam has been entrusted with such a key job,” Subhro Dutta, a Guwahati-based senior executive said.

“Gaurav is getting a good response in his constituency. I have been told by my friends from Jorhat,” Asish Choudhury, a retired bank official with a keen understanding of the political scene of Assam, said.

Kaliabor, the constituency from where Gaurav won two consecutive elections (2014 and 2019), no longer exists as a result of delimitation last year. During candidate selections, Gaurav named Jorhat and Nowgong as his preferred seats.

The Congress gave Gaurav nod for Jorhat, which will go to the polls on April 19. He is up against incumbent BJP MP Topan Gogoi. The latter is primarily counting on PM Narendra Modi’s popularity.

Gaurav has accused his BJP rival of remaining silent in the House. In response, Topon said he had been elected by the people for working and solving problems of the constituency. “Voters did not elect me to create nuisance inside the House”, he said.