Seat-sharing deal clinched: Congress partners with Raijor Dal, Gaurav Gogoi named CM candidate; Opposition bloc aims to unify against BJP's dominance

Guwahati: After days of intense speculation and negotiations, Congress, late on Thursday night, finally clinched the seat-sharing deal with Raijor Dal, positioning Gaurav Gogoi as the CM candidate for the upcoming state assembly elections.With the Akhil Gogoi-led party becoming Congress’s fifth partner in the opposition alliance, the deal marks a direct face-off between BJP’s full-strength NDA and the six-party opposition bloc, which includes the CPM, CPI(ML)L, All Party Hill Party Leaders and the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP).APCC president and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi acknowledged that the party had made sacrifices in seat-sharing talks, but said the decision was taken “in the interest of the state and its future.”

“It is not easy for a party like Congress to give up seats, but the national leadership agreed in the interest of the state and its future,” Gogoi said, adding that the alliance was sealed only after “assessing ground realities” and satisfying queries raised by the high command.Outlining the opposition’s vision, Gaurav said the six-party bloc aimed to build “a new Assam where development is for all, not just one person and his family.”

He accused CM Himanta Biswa Sarma of pursuing a “low level of politics” based on fear and intimidation.Echoing Gaurav’s sentiment, Akhil said his party had decided to contest unitedly with Congress to oust the BJP-led govt. He added the opposition bloc will “make Gaurav Gogoi the CM”, if voted to power.“People of Assam are dissatisfied with BJP-RSS as they have altered the social fabric of the state. There is a need to overthrow Sarma’s undemocratic, corrupt and communal government,” Akhil said.The pact with Congress allows Raijor Dal to contest from 11 constituencies, including a friendly fight with the grand old party in two seats. So far, the alliance has announced candidates for 122 out of 126 seats with Congress taking the lion’s share of 94, five more than BJP in the NDA set-up, which will be contesting in all the 126 constituencies.While AJP will contest in 10 seats, CPI(M) and APHLC will fight in two seats each, with CMI(ML)L contesting in just one.Raijor Dal leader and Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi will again contest from the aforesaid constituency he won during the last polls while being imprisoned on sedition charges for allegedly instigating violence during the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests.As part of the seat-sharing arrangement, Congress has allotted Margherita to Raijor Dal. The seat was earlier given to Prateek Bordoloi, but he opted out after his father, Pradyut Bordoloi, defected to BJP.