Gaurav Gogoi, several sitting MLAs in the fray as Congress releases first list for Assam polls amid alliance talks
While multiple sitting MLAs feature in the first list, the party has picked Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi to contest from the Jorhat Assembly constituency.
Congress Chief Gaurav Gogoi trails in his Jorhat debut as the party faces a third consecutive loss in the high-stakes Assam Assembly polls. (File)
While seat-sharing talks with its potential allies in the state are yet to be resolved, the Central Election Committee of the Congress has released a first list of 42 candidates for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections. There are a total of 126 Assembly constituencies in the state.
While multiple sitting MLAs feature in the first list, the party has picked Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi to contest from the Jorhat Assembly constituency. Though Gogoi is a three-time Lok Sabha MP, this will be the first time he is contesting Assembly elections. The party will be hoping for a repeat of his 2024 win from the Jorhat Lok Sabha constituency. Incumbent Jorhat MLA Hitendra Nath Goswami is a BJP leader.
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Prominent sitting MLAs that the party has decided to field again include the Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, from the Nazira constituency, which he has represented for three consecutive terms. Nurul Huda from Rupohihat, Diganta Barman from Barkhetri, Nandita Das from Hajo-Sualkuchi, and Abdus Sobahan Ali Sarkar from Gauripur are also among the sitting Congress MLAs set to contest again.
Senior leaders from the party’s state leadership — Assam Mahila Congress president Mira Borthakur Goswami and former Assam Congress president Ripun Borah — also make the list. They will contest from the Dispur and Barchalla constituencies, respectively.
The list also features the sons of senior Congress leaders Paban Singh Ghatowar, who is a prominent tea community leader and former Union minister, and sitting Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain. The former’s son, Pranjal Ghatowar, will be fielded from the Chabua-Lahowal constituency. Tanzil Hussain, the son of Rakibul Hussain, will contest from the Samaguri constituency, which his father represented for five consecutive terms before being elected to Lok Sabha in 2024. The party had also fielded him in the Samaguri bypoll that year, but he lost to the BJP — a stinging loss for the Congress in a constituency with a sizeable minority population.
Congress Chief Gaurav Gogoi trails in his Jorhat debut as the party faces a third consecutive loss in the high-stakes Assam Assembly polls. (File) 
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