The political battlefield in Assam remains heated, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress continuously making allegations and counter-allegations against each other. The northeast state was once a fortress of Congress, but it was breached by the BJP in 2016. Since then, the saffron party has remained in power in Assam, and is looking for a third straight term under the leadership of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
In Assam, there are a total of 126 assembly constituencies. One of these is the Haflong assembly constituency, which was established in 1967. A seat reserved for a Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidate, the Haflong assembly constituency is a part of the Dima Hasao district and comes under the Diphu Lok Sabha constituency.
A Congress stronghold in past
For majority of its history, the Haflong assembly constituency was a fortress of the Congress. For the first two elections held in 1967 and 1972, it was won by Congress leader JB Hagjer. In 1978, Janata Party leader Sona Ram Thaosen won this seat. Then Gobinda Chandra Langthasa won Haflong in 1983 as an independent candidate but later joined the Congress.
From 1985 to 2011, Langthasa won this seat constantly, except for the 1996 elections, when Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) leader Samarjit Haflongbar bagged this constituency. In 2016, the BJP fielded Bir Bhadra Hagjer who won this seat, defeating Congress candidate Nirmal Langthasa by around 9,000 votes. For the 2021 polls, the saffron party had fielded Nandita Garlosa, who defeated Congress' Nirmal Langthasa by around 17,000 votes.
Garlosa switches to Congress
This year, the BJP has fielded Rupali Langthasa in the Haflong assembly constituency. In response, the Congress has fielded Garlosa. She had switched to Congress after being denied a ticket by BJP, and has expressed confidence in retaining her seat. She has also vowed to protect the people of the constituency and the ecosystem if she gets elected.
Assembly elections in Assam will be held in a single phase on April 9. The counting of votes will take place on May 4.
