Gogoi vs Goswami in Jorhat: Test of revival in seat steeped in history

Guwahati: Jorhat, one of Assam’s most prestigious constituencies, has emerged as a marquee battleground in the April 9 assembly polls, with both top contenders — state Congress president and MP Gaurav Gogoi and BJP’s sitting MLA and veteran Hitendra Nath Goswami — filing their nominations on Monday.Their entry sets the stage for a high-stakes clash that not only decides the fate of this influential upper Assam seat but also symbolises the larger BJP-Congress rivalry playing out across the state.Jorhat is not just another constituency. It is a segment of the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat, which the 43-year-old Gogoi won in the 2024 general elections defeating BJP, giving Congress a crucial foothold in upper Assam.“This election is about cleansing Assam politics. It has reached a new low, shameful enough that we hesitate to speak of it outside our own state.

The responsibility now rests on each of us to cleanse and restore dignity to public life,” Gogoi said, striking a sharp moral tone against the ruling dispensation.For 67-year-old Goswami, the contest is about continuity and experience. His career reflects the long arc of Assam’s regional and national politics. He first entered the assembly as an AGP legislator in 1991, retaining his seat in 1996 and again in 2001, establishing himself as one of the party’s prominent faces in Upper Assam.

After decades with the AGP, Goswami broke ranks in 2013 and joined the BJP. He went on to win the 2016 and 2021 assembly elections as a BJP candidate, continuing his political journey under the saffron banner. “The people of Jorhat have trusted me for decades, and I stand here again to serve them with the same commitment,” Goswami said while addressing supporters.The contest also carries historical resonance. Assam’s longest-serving chief minister and Gaurav’s father, late Tarun Gogoi, began his political career in Jorhat as a member of the municipal board in 1968 before moving to the Lok Sabha as Jorhat MP.

That legacy adds weight to the younger Gogoi’s candidature, making the battle deeply symbolic for Congress.The Gogoi-Goswami face-off is one of the most keenly watched contests of the elections. For the Congress, victory here would reinforce its revival narrative in upper Assam. For BJP, retaining Jorhat would underline its continued dominance in the region.