Congress party's Assam unit chief Gaurav Gogoi said on Saturday that the grand old party will contest the upcoming assembly elections in the northeast state in an alliance with five parties. He further stated that the Congress will field candidates on 100 of the 126 assembly constituencies, hoping that the six-party alliance will end the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule in Assam.
Gogoi, a three-time MP who is contesting the elections from the Jorhat assembly constituency, made the remarks while speaking to news agency ANI.
"There is an alliance of six opposition parties in Assam - Congress, Assam Jatiya Parishad, Raijor Dal, CPI(M), CPI(ML) and the All Party Hill Leaders Conference. Assam Congress will field its candidates in 100 seats... We are hopeful that the anti-BJP votes will not get divided and we will remove the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government," Gogoi, who is also Congress' deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, said.
Till now, the Congress has released four lists, declaring 94 of its candidates. It has fielded three-time MLA Debabrata Saikia from the Nazira constituency, Jayanta Borah from Biswanath, Ripun Bora from Barchalla, and Mira Borthakur Goswami from Dispur.
In addition, the party has also fielded Indraneel Pegu from the Majuli seat, Abdul Khaleque from Mandia, Rakibuddin Ahmed from Dimoria, Bipul Gogoi from Tingkhong, Bidisha Neog from Jalukbari, Joy Prakash Das from Nowboicha, and Gyandip Mohan from Mahmora.
The Congress was once a formidable force in Assam under Gogoi's father Tarun Gogoi's leadership. However, it lost the power in 2016 when the BJP gained a majority for the first time in Assam. Back then, the Congress had won just 26 seats. In the 2021 elections, the party had marginally improved its tally to 29, though.
Elections to the 126-member Assam Legislative Assembly will be held in a single phase on April 9. The counting of votes will take place on May 4, along with those in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the union territory (UT) of Puducherry. The candidates, on the other hand, can file their nominations till March 23.
