In Assam's Jorhat, civility takes centre stage

Jorhat: Jorhat assembly seat, the nerve centre of Assam politics, is witnessing a gentlemanly contest between BJP's Hitendra Nath Goswami and Congress' Gaurav Gogoi. Living up to its reputation of being the educational and cultural hub of Assam, no personal attacks or mudslinging have been part of the campaigning here.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Gogoi won the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat in this high voltage and tightly-fought contest. He defeated BJP's sitting parliamentarian Topon Kumar Gogoi. Topon was a former student leader associated with the All Assam Students Union. Gogoi's assembly debut is against BJP's Goswami, a political veteran, who has represented the Jorhat assembly seat five times since 1991.

Goswami said, "I haven't seen Gogoi much in Jorhat except inaugurating some projects. However, he is a good orator." AGP is a BJP ally. Former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi and Gaurav's father started his political journey from Jorhat. In 1968, Tarun Gogoi became the councillor of Jorhat Municipality. Goswami, a lawyer turned politician, was a former Speaker in the state assembly. He was also a minister in the AGP government.


Raju Hazarika, a voter of Jorhat, said, "Both candidates are good. Both are educated. The best part is they refrain from mudslinging. We do not like the personal attacks which have become a trend in Assam during elections in other areas." Assam is going for single-phase assembly polls on April 9.

On Saturday, a powerful explosion rocked Jorhat leaving two dead, including a child. On March 22, ULFA (I) launched an attack on a police commando camp in Tinsukia in Upper Assam. Four police personnel suffered injuries in an attack carried out by militants of ULFA (Independent). The state has been put on high alert after that.