JORHAT: For Assam BJP MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi (48), his true strength lies in his ability to stand by his people, rain or shine.
How much he could achieve to develop his Mariani constituency on the Nagaland border in Jorhat district may be a matter of debate, but people love him because he is accessible.
Invite him to a wedding or call him in times of loss – he will make it nine out of ten times. People often find him at crematorium grounds, standing with grieving families, or working alongside villagers to repair roads or carrying relief materials to those affected by a disaster.
The Kurmi family has held the Mariani seat for 35 years, albeit with a two-year gap. Rupjyoti’s mother, Rupam Kurmi, a Congress leader, served as an MLA for 13 years. She was a cabinet minister in Tarun Gogoi’s first government (2001-06) when she died in 2004.
The death necessitated a by-election, which Alok Kumar Ghosh of the Trinamool Congress had won, defeating his Congress rival. In the 2006 elections, the Congress had fielded Rupjyoti, and he defeated Ghosh who contested on NCP’s ticket.
Rupjyoti was re-elected from the seat in 2011, 2016 and 2021 as a Congress candidate. Barely a month after winning the 2021 polls, he joined the BJP and later, won the by-election.
Kurmi, an Adivasi (Tea Tribe) leader, is now facing a challenge from Raijor Dal’s Gyanashree Bora (34), who is the consensus candidate of the Congress-led six-party Opposition. However, he is confident that his grassroots connections would see him through.
He said he had participated in the last rites of more than 2,000 people and attended over 10,000 weddings.
“Not just standing by these families during their happy or difficult times, I had also helped them. This is why I have kept winning polls. I am confident that I will become an MLA for the sixth time in a row,” Rupjyoti said.
He predicted the defeat of the Raijor Dal candidate, stating that politics is a different ballgame altogether where candidates do not get success overnight.
“It’s sad that her political career will be over before it even begins. People cannot defeat me because I consider my constituency as a temple. I have personally taken care of it, cleaning it with my own hands, and placing it in my heart. If someone just comes and says, ‘God, I want blessings,’ it doesn’t work like that. You will succeed in politics only if you work hard,” Rupjyoti said.
Gyanashree, a PhD holder who recently resigned as an assistant lecturer of a college, is hoping to defeat the BJP MLA by taking the unresolved issues to the people. She is visiting different areas to highlight the bad condition of roads and the lack of drinking water facilities.
“We want to do value-based politics with thrust on development, education, health, industrialisation etc. Mariani continues to face various problems. Most families still do not have access to clean drinking water. The condition of roads is also very bad,” she said.
She further cited the alleged lack of healthcare infrastructure in hospitals and health centres, and the shortage of doctors as another key issue facing people. She said there had been insecurity among people due to human-elephant conflict, and flood and river erosion.
Kailash Bihani, a voter, agreed that the constituency lacks development but he felt that Rupjyoti has an edge due to his grassroots connect. “Assam, perhaps, does not have another MLA who is so deeply connected to people. Call him if you have a problem and he will be right there with you,” Bihani said.
Prasanta Gogoi, another voter, said Mariani needed change. “Gyanashree is an educated woman who can speak well. I feel if she is elected, she will be able to raise the problems of Mariani before the government,” he said.
Assamese, Adivasis and Bengalis are the three major communities of the Mariani constituency whose demography changed following the 2023 delimitation exercise.