GUWAHATI: Three activists of different hues will be locked in a triangular contest to claim Sivasagar, the erstwhile capital of the Ahom dynasty, when Assam goes to elections on April 9.
Sitting MLA and Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi, who is an RTI activist-turned-politician, is up against Kushal Dowari of the ruling BJP and Pradip Hazarika of BJP ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).
Sivasagar was bracing for a straight contest between Gogoi and Hazarika, the Amguri MLA who was a leader of the six-year-long (1979-85) Assam Movement (anti-immigrants’ agitation) that All Assam Students’ Union spearheaded.
However, Dowari’s last-minute entry changed the poll equation. He is a former member of the insurgent group United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and a two-time former MLA of the Thowra seat.
The BJP had offered 26 of the state’s 126 seats to the AGP as per their seat-sharing deal and then turned it into a friendly contest in Sivasagar.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the BJP felt the need for a friendly contest and fielded Dowari. He said the BJP had taken this decision in consultations with the AGP.
Hazarika had filed his nomination on March 20 as the NDA candidate. “I will take my fight forward with support from everyone,” he had then stated.
Gogoi stands to benefit from the division of NDA votes. He is also the consensus candidate of the six-party Opposition front. The Congress, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI(M), CPI(ML) and All Party Hill Leaders Conference are the other entities in this formation.
Dowari and Hazarika are no strangers to the voters of Sivasagar. Dowari won from Thowra in 2006 and 2016, while Hazarika (73) won from Amguri five times – 1985, 1996, 2006, 2016 and 2021. Both Thowra and Amguri, which were abolished after the 2023 delimitation exercise, fall in Sivasagar district.
The Sivasagar constituency has a large number of Ahom voters. Gogoi and Dowari belong to the community.
Meanwhile, the battle started heating up after Dowari’s entry. He on Monday had allegedly stated that he would “politically murder” Gogoi. The Raijor Dal president shot back in no time, calling the BJP nominee the “biggest murderer.”
“Sivasagar is a highly literate district. Will the people elect the biggest murderer of Assam as their representative? What is the BJP trying to show by imposing him on Sivasagar. Have they not insulted the people of Sivasagar?” Gogoi asked.
He said the police should take Dowari’s statement seriously. He urged the director general of police to lodge an FIR suo motu and arrest the BJP candidate. “The BJP should prevent him from contesting the polls,” Gogoi further stated.
The war of words did not stop there, with Dowari now calling Gogoi a “murderer.”
“Before calling someone a murderer, he should collect the evidence. His statements are political in nature and he has no evidence (against me),” Dowari said, claiming that the voters would reject the Raijor Dal candidate due to alleged non-performance.
The Ahoms ruled Assam for nearly 600 years, and Sivasagar holds immense significance as the heart of the Ahom kingdom.
The place features architecture, including Rang Ghar (amphitheatre), Talatal Ghar (palace and military base) and several prominent temples.
Constructed in 1744, Rang Ghar is Asia’s oldest surviving amphitheatre. The ULFA was founded on its premises on April 7, 1979, by a group of young men aiming to establish a sovereign Assam. Sivasagar is also a major natural oil-rich district of Assam.
