Can Akhil Gogoi hold Sivasagar? All eyes on key Assam seat

VOting for the gathering elections in Assam took localize on apr 9. With the results go under to be stated on May 4, among the most-watched seats is Sivasagar, where sitting MP Akhil Gogoi is pitted against two NDA veterans.Raijor Dal chief Gogoi, looking to retain his stronghold in the historic seat which was once the capital of the Ahom Kingdom, is up against BJP's Kushal Dowari and AGP's Prodip Hazarika. The three-cornered fight, combined with the Akhil Gogoi factor and a friendly fight between the NDA allies, has made the constituency an interesting one.Hazarika is a veteran of the Assam agitation and a five-time MLA from Amguri, a seat which was abolished after the delimitation exercise in the state in 2023. Dowari, a former ULFA member and two-time MLA, has been fielded as a “friendly” opponent, seemingly to prevent the anti-NDA votes from consolidating behind another candidate.Also Read | Himanta’s stronghold Jalukbari set for high-stakes contest in Assam assembly electionsThe Akhil Gogoi factorGogoi is contesting the 2026 Assembly polls on grounds of regionalism and anti-incumbency, ANI news agency reported. The incumbent MLA's party, Raijor Dal, is part of the Congress-led 6 party opposition alliance looking to unseat the NDA from taking power for a third consecutive term.The Raijor Dal chief, also known as the “son of the soil”, has been a vocal critic of the central government's policies in the North East, and is seen as a leader who has a strong connect with the grassroots of Assam.Gogoi had, in a rare feat, won the Sivasagar seat in the 2021 Assembly elections while he was in jail on charges of sedition, in relation to the anti-CAA protests. He had defeated BJP's Surabhi Rajkonwar by over 11,000 votes.His party, Raijor Dal, was also formed after the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in Assam. Despite him being up against two national parties and after being jailed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Sivasagar had thrown its weight behind Gogoi.After voting in the Assam polls, Gogoi expressed confidence that he would win the seat by a margin of over 50,000 votes. “This is the first time for me to vote in my local constituency, because last time I was in jail. This time I am happy,” he told ANI, adding that his main aim was to “save democracy.”Also Read | In Bengal, Assam polls, a test of Indian democracyGogoi had launched criticism against BJP's fielding of Dowari as a candidate in Sivasagar. Dowari had earlier won the Thowra seat in the Sivasagar district in 2016. “It’s a matter of deep disgrace that a person who had murdered 26 people and married 3 women is being considered as the potential candidate of BJP for 96 Sibsagar LAC,” Gogoi said in a post on X. “It’s really unfortunate that such a person has been considered by the party for a highly respectable constituency where voters are aware and educated,” Gogoi added.The Sivasagar seat: History and past resultsSivasagar is not just an assembly constituency, but has a deep history, having once been the capital of the Ahom Kingdom. It is also the nerve center of Upper Assam politics, given its politically aware and educated voter base, ANI reportedThe seat's electorate largely comprises a sizeable population of the Ahom community, along with tea tribe workers and urban middle-class voters. In the previous elections, Raijor Dal's Gogoi had won by a margin of 9.60 per cent of the votes defeating his closest rival, BJP's Surabhi Rajkonwari. The largely secular seat had elected Congress's Pranab Kumar Gogoi in 2016, who had won a thin margin of 0.5 per cent votes against Rajkonwari.