Cong MLA Debabrata to take on BJP’s Mayur in high-stakes Nazira battle

Dibrugarh: The Nazira assembly constituency in Sivasagar district is bracing for a high-stakes rematch between sitting Congress MLA and leader of opposition Debabrata Saikia and BJP candidate Mayur Borgohain, in what promises to be a fiercely contested battle in one of Assam’s most politically storied constituencies.Six other candidates — CPI’s Kanak Gogoi and five independents — Gufranur Rohman, Joyram Charaimuria, Dilip Sahu, Dilwar Hussain and Pankaj Mahanta — are also in the fray, though the principal contest is expected to be a straight BJP-Congress fight.Nazira is no ordinary constituency. For over five decades, it has functioned as the undisputed political fortress of the family of former CM Hiteswar Saikia, one of Assam’s most towering political figures.Of the 10 assembly elections held in Nazira, nine have been won by members of the Saikia family, all on Congress tickets. Hiteswar himself won from Nazira five consecutive times — in 1972, 1978, 1983, 1985 and 1991. His wife Hemoprava Saikia carried the legacy forward by winning in 2001. The sole exception in Nazira’s political history came in 2006, when CPI candidate Drupad Borgohain defeated Hemoprava by the wafer-thin margin of just 510 votes — a result that stands as the only instance of a candidate from outside the Saikia family winning from this seat.

Debabrata (61) currently serves as leader of opposition in the Assam assembly. He has himself won from Nazira three times. His most recent victory in 2021, however, was anything but comfortable — he scraped through against the very same opponent he faces today, Mayur Borgohain, by a margin of just 683 votes. Debabrata polled 52,387 votes to Borgohain’s 51,704 in a contest so close it went down to the wire. The 44-year-old Borgohain, emboldened by that near-miss, returns this time with a point to prove.“Nazira has always placed its trust in Congress and in our family’s decades of service to this constituency. My father dedicated his life to the people of Nazira and Assam, and I have tried to carry that commitment forward with equal sincerity. The people of Nazira know who has stood by them and who will continue to do so,” Debabrata said, drawing on the weight of his family’s legacy while making his case for a fourth term.Borgohain, meanwhile, is making no secret of his hunger for revenge after the heartbreaking 2021 defeat. “Last time, a margin of 683 votes separated us. The people of Nazira have seen five years of Congress representation and they can judge for themselves what has changed. BJP’s vision for Assam is transforming the state and Nazira deserves to be part of that transformation,” he said, projecting confidence ahead of polling.Debabrata’s earlier victories had been far more emphatic. In 2016, he had defeated BJP’s Prahlad Gowala by a commanding 14,855 votes, and in 2011, he had beaten CPI’s Drupad Borgohain by an overwhelming margin of 33,810 votes — making the narrow 2021 result all the more significant as a sign of shifting political winds in the constituency.Bad roads in interior areas, rickety and unsafe bridges and persistent drinking water shortages remain the most pressing concerns for Nazira’s voters.