Tension in ‘India’ faction in Assam after Akhil Gogoi’s demand for Lok Sabha ticket
Guwahati (IANS). All is not going well for the opposition ‘India’ alliance with a faction of 12 opposition parties in Assam. Tensions in the alliance have begun to rise after Shivsagar MLA and Raijor Dol chief Akhil Gogoi openly demanded a Lok Sabha seat for his party.
Gogoi, who was earlier jailed for his alleged role in anti-CAA protests and had UAPA imposed on him, contested the last Assembly elections from jail and won the Shivsagar seat. He was later released on bail and his case is now being heard in the Supreme Court.
Akhil Gogoi, a strong critic of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, made headlines a decade ago when he was an RTI activist, forming a party called Raizor Dol just before the 2021 Assembly elections in the state All candidates lost the election.
Long before the formation of the opposition faction ‘India’, the Congress party in Assam had succeeded in bringing at least 12 opposition parties under the same umbrella. The joint opposition platform included the Left, Shivsagar MLA Akhil Gogoi’s Raijor Dole, former All Assam Students Union (AASU) leader Lurinjyoti Gogoi’s Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and others. But the combined platform lacks a major player in Assam politics – the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were also denied a place in the opposition platform.
After the announcement of the India Alliance, the situation has changed to a great extent and both TMC and AAP are now constituents of the opposition alliance. But, Badruddin Ajmal’s party, the AIMIM, is still kept out of the coalition.
Meanwhile, Akhil Gogoi said, “Our party has good grassroots support in the Upper Assam region. We demand that Jorhat Lok Sabha seat be given to Raijor Dol. I am willing to contest from there.
His statement has created an uncomfortable situation in the opposition alliance and many Congress leaders are openly criticizing Gogoi’s move.
“Whether it is Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal or Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi, each top leader to renounce his seat share to oust the BJP,” Assam Congress president Bhupen Bora told IANS on Sunday are ready. The same applies in Assam.”
He stressed that talks on seat sharing had not yet started and it was not good for anyone to seek a Lok Sabha ticket in the current situation.
“We will sit together and discuss the best possible combination to take on the BJP,” Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia told IANS.
Meanwhile, Assam Congress executive president Kamalakhya De Purkayastha on Sunday made a scathing comment about Akhil Gogoi.
“Akhil Gogoi’s party was not involved in the original ‘India’ alliance,” Purkayastha told IANS. Here as a local party we have them in coalition. Therefore, they should not have directly sought the candidacy in this way. It is the responsibility of the high command to decide who will be the candidate from which place. His comments should be withdrawn,” he said.
However, Zakir Hussain Sikder, another executive president of the oldest party, said, “Anyone can claim to be a candidate. That is natural. However, Akhil did not say that if he was not allowed to contest from Jorhat seat.” So he will leave the opposition coalition. So, I think it is not right to criticize him right now.”
On the other hand, AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi said, “There have been preliminary talks among the alliance leaders as to who will be the candidate in which seat. The rest will be seen later.
The AIUDF, which is a strong force in the political spectrum of Assam, has already claimed its party leaders that keeping them out of the alliance will hurt the fight against the BJP. At this time, the fresh tension in the opposition faction may undermine the saffron party’s fight against the ferocious election machinery in the state.
