GUWAHATI: Two educated and strong women candidates are proving a point in Assam but not for the ruling BJP.
Fifty-nine of the 722 candidates in the April 9 poll fray are women. Kunki Chowdhury (27) and Gyanashree Bora (34) are the cynosure of all eyes. They are barely a few weeks old in politics.
Both speak well and carry themselves with grace and elegance.
Kunki is London educated, while Gyanashree is a PhD holder, who recently resigned as an assistant lecturer of a college. The two have managed to catch the attention of voters by flagging pertinent issues.
Assam Jatiya Parishad and Raijor Dal, which were born out of the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act agitation, fielded Kunki and Gyanashree from Guwahati Central and Mariani seats respectively.
Kunki is pitted against BJP’s Vijay Kumar Gupta, while Gyanashree is facing the might of the ruling party's Rupjyoti Kurmi whose family has held the Mariani seat since 1991, albeit with a two-year gap between 2004 and 2006. The two young women have pushed the BJP into an aggressive insecurity.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma ruffled quite a few feathers by going hard at the family of Kunki, claiming that her Gorkha mother, Sujata Gurung Chowdhury, is a beef eater. Sujata, who is originally from Kalimpong in West Bengal, as well as Kunki dismissed the claims.
After the controversy, it emerged that leadership runs in Kunki's blood. Sujata's grandfather Ari Bahadur Gurung, a barrister, was a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Constitution of India, the family said.
Support is pouring in for Kunki. The All India Gorkha League announced its unconditional support for her, asserting that she embodies a blend of academic excellence, youthful vision and inclusive politics.
In a video message, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's husband Parakala Prabhakar stressed that people like Kunki should be sitting in the Assembly.
"Kunki is a bright and confident young person, who is also mature and has national as well as international exposures. She is full of fresh ideas and very skilled," he said.
The Chief Minister targeted Gyanashree by stating that the people of Mariani should vote for a local candidate, alluding that she is not from the constituency. Unlike Kunki who comes from an affluent business family, Gyanashree was born into a farmer’s family.
Meanwhile, both women have stepped up their campaign, relying mostly on locality visits and meeting voters.
"I would work to deal with artificial floods, parking, garbage issues and create skill hubs for youth," Kunki said, while Gyanashree said, "I would try to address issues such as the shortage of drinking water and poor road conditions in rural areas."
