Assam Elections: There’s some relief for the Congress party, which has been plagued by a series of defections and resignations in Assam. After days of negotiations and continued uncertainty, the Congress party has reached an agreement with the Raijor Dal on seat-sharing for the Assam Assembly elections. The electoral agreement has been finalized. The two parties have agreed that the Congress will leave 11 seats for the Raijor Dal, while two seats will be contested in a “friendly contest.”
The agreement was signed by leaders of both parties at a crucial meeting held late Thursday night in Jorhat. The meeting was led by Congress state president Gaurav Gogoi and Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi. Voting for the 126-member Assam Assembly will be held on April 9, with counting taking place on May 4.
Margherita seat also in Raijor’s account
Raijor Dal leader Akhil Gogoi will contest from the Sibsagar constituency in the state. He won the same seat last time. At that time, he was jailed in a sedition case for inciting violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Congress has also given the Margherita seat to the Raijor Dal. Previously, Congress had given this seat to Pratik Bordoloi. However, when his father, Pradyuman Bordoloi, left the Congress and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Pratik returned the ticket to Congress and announced that he would not contest the election.
6 parties in the Congress alliance
In addition to Sibsagar and Margherita, the Raijor Dal will contest other seats including Sisiborgaon, Digboi, Dalgaon, Bokakhat, Dhing, Manas, Tezpur, and Kaliabor. While Goalpara (East) and Gauripur will be a friendly contest between the two parties, the party has fielded a woman candidate (Gyanshree Bora) from the Mariani seat.
Congress is forming an opposition alliance to challenge the ruling BJP in the state. Six parties have joined the alliance so far: the Congress and the Raijor Dal, as well as the Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP), the CPI(M), the All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC), and the CPI(ML).
Congress has released the complete list of quota
Congress has so far released its full list of 87 seats, while its ally AJP will contest on 10 seats, while CPI(M) and APHLC will contest on two seats each.
Following the seat agreement, State Congress President Gaurav Gogoi expressed his gratitude to the Raijor Dal chief, his team, and all those who worked to make this alliance a success. The State Congress President said, “It’s not easy for a party like Congress to give up seats, but the party high command agreed to this agreement in the best interests of the state and its future.”
He appealed to everyone to work for the victory of all candidates fielded by the six alliance parties. Gogoi said, “We have many dreams and goals, and we want to build a new Assam, where development is ensured for everyone, not just one person and his family.”
Meanwhile, Raijor Dal President Akhil said that they have decided to contest the elections unitedly to oust the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government from power and make Gaurav Gogoi the new Chief Minister of the state. He said that the people of Assam are angry with the BJP-RSS because they have changed the social fabric of the state. Akhil also apologized to those party members who were denied tickets.
