Gaurav Gogoi in a prestige fight in Jorhat, on the other side, Himanta Biswa Sarma leads the fight

While the constituency may be new to him as a candidate, it is another familiar one for his family. Tarun Gogoi was elected Jorhat MP thrice from 1971 onwards and he represented Titabor, one of the constituent Assembly segments, from 2001 till he passed away in 2020, and was Chief Minister for three of those terms.

In what has shaped up to be the most keenly watched contest of the five Upper Assam seats for which voting will take place on Friday, Gogoi is leaning on his father’s legacy. The contest has become a prestige battle, a two-way fight between Gaurav and sitting MP Topon Gogoi of the BJP. The BJP leader is also a former MLA of Sonari, one of the Assembly segments of the parliamentary seat.

The BJP, including Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who has a history of bad blood with Gaurav, has left no stone unturned. Sarma kicked off his Lok Sabha campaign in Majuli, a river island that is now a BJP stronghold, and will end his campaign trail for the first phase with a roadshow in Sivasagar on Wednesday evening, both of which are part of the Jorhat seat. On Tuesday too, he addressed two massive rallies in the constituency, one in Majuli and the other in Amguri. He did not miss a chance to take a dig jibe at Gaurav for “offering namaz during Eid”.

On Tuesday, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also led a big roadshow in Titabor with Gaurav and other state Congress leaders, where among her core promises was increasing the wages of tea garden workers.

Gaurav Gogoi tells The Indian Express that his focus during voter outreach is on speaking on healthcare, education, and the economy. “Another major issue we talk about is democracy and free speech. We talk about how this government uses its law-enforcement agencies and the party machinery to bulldoze people into silence … The CM himself and ministers are focusing on this particular seat. I do feel that they are scared of the enthusiasm with which people are supporting us turning into votes and creating a significant victory for us in Jorhat, in Upper Assam that was once a stronghold of the Congress. A victory here will have a massive political impact,” he says.

Some voters in Titabor say that winning over this region will not be difficult for Gaurav. “We have been voting for the Congress for decades and our Bhaskar Jyoti Baruah is also from the Congress. Here, we don’t even recognise Topon Gogoi,” says 50-year-old Mila Horo.

BJP’s campaign pitch

But Jorhat is a sprawling and diverse constituency. Both the candidates are from the Ahom community that makes up more than 30% of the seat’s roughly 17 lakh voters. In all addresses, BJP leaders emphasise the construction of the 125-foot statue of storied Ahom general Lachit Barphukan that Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled last month in Hollongapar near Jorhat town.

The BJP’s organisational reach is much stronger among the tea community and tribes — the major tribes in the district are Mising and Thengal Kachari — that also constitute a significant number of voters. Of the 10 Assembly segments of the Jorhat parliamentary constituency, five have BJP MLAs, two are represented by BJP partner Asom Gana Parishad’s MLAs, two have Congress legislators, and one is an Independent from a regional party allied with the Congress.

Addressing a gathering in Charaibari near Jorhat, Topon Gogoi emphasises schemes introduced by both the Central and state governments. The audience is mostly women who are the target beneficiaries of schemes he lists, such as the Assam government’s Orunodoi Scheme and the Centre’s Lakhpati Didi scheme. “We have not received the benefit of the Orunodoi scheme and homes, but these are good schemes and we are waiting for our turn,” says an ASHA worker who does not wish to be identified.

About the history that Gaurav Gogoi’s family shares with the constituency, former BJP district president Shantanu Pujari, accompanying Topon on the campaign trail, says, “Obviously, there are old connections that the Congress has but we have our strong organisational base and the beneficiaries of so many schemes. He also points out that several prominent Congress leaders in the area have joined the BJP in recent years, including Mariani MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi, Thowra MLA Sushanta Borgohai, and former Assam Congress working president Rana Goswami.

But he rubbishes claims that the party is putting in extra effort in the seat. “The BJP puts everything into every election, be it big or small,” he says.