‘We have 10 months…’: Taking over as Assam Congress chief, Gaurav Gogoi sounds poll bugle

Addressing party workers at the Manabendra Sarma Complex in Guwahati on Tuesday, he called on them to gear up for the crucial election next year.

“We do not have much time. We have 10 months. If in these 10 months, we do not work on strengthening and campaigning every single day from today to the Assembly elections, we will never be able to get close to our destination. But from today, if each of us take up our responsibilities and think that the election has started and work for the next 10 months, then success will surely be ours,” he said, after completing a three-day procession from his constituency, Jorhat, to Guwahati after arriving in Assam from New Delhi on Saturday.

Gogoi has taken charge of the state Congress at a time when he and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma have been engaged in a bitter face-off, with Sarma accusing Gogoi and his wife of links with Pakistan and the ISI. With him taking charge, the upcoming state elections are likely to take shape as a direct confrontation between the two leaders.

The Congress’s fortunes have been flagging in Assam recently. It won just three out of the 14 seats in Assam in last year’s Lok Sabha elections — the high point for the party in the polls was Gogoi’s win from Jorhat, after a contest in which Sarma vigorously campaigned against him.

The Congress also lost all the five seats in key Assembly by-elections held last year as well as had a dismal showing in the recent panchayat elections.