Jorhat Lok Sabha election result 2024: Special praise across party lines for INC’s Gaurav Gogoi leaves BJP’s Himanta miffed

Jorhat Lok Sabha election 2024 results: INC’s face in the state, Gaurav Gogoi, son of former Assam Chief Minister and political stalwart Tarun Gogoi, has received praise from some unlikely quarters for his victory from Jorhat, the much-touted prestige seat. However, that has not gone unnoticed by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has not taken the praise for Gogoi kindly. 

Once Gogoi won the seat with a margin of 1.4 lakh votes, toppling the sitting BJP MP Topon Kumar Gogoi, BJP MLA Mrinal Saikia, praised the INC leader. “Special congratulations to Gaurav Gogoi for your amazing win. This result is very significant in Jorhat in many ways. The outcome proved that money, big publicity, overdoses of leaders and arrogant speeches does not always help to win elections,” said the Khumtai MLA. 

"Thank you @Mrinal_MLA dangoriya. We may be on opposite sides of the political spectrum but I respect your commitment to the people of Khumtai esp during time of floods and your interest in agro-tourism," came Gogoi's amicable reply. 

Not one to ignore jibes such as by Saikia, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Saikia did not congratulate Narendra Modi for his victory but congratulated Gogoi, who was from the opposition party. "Owing to this action of his, it is my belief that he will not be a BJP member for too long now," he said, as per news website Guwahati Plus. 

Saikia, a former functionary of banned outfit, United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), and two-time BJP MLA from Khumtai, part of Kaziranga Lok Sabha seat, asked whether it was a crime to congratulate someone from the opposition party. Posting a black and white picture of veterans and political giants Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, Saikia said sarcastically, "I joined BJP impressed by these great leaders, who taught us to respect others and give due respect to people irrespective of their political affiliation. I learnt today from HCM Himanta Biswa, sir, that congratulating someone from the opposition is a crime nowadays.” 

In one interview to reporters, Sarma was seen saying that if any congratulatory messages were in order, then those should be for INC's Rakibul Hussain, who won from the Dhubri seat with a margin of 10.12 lakh votes against AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal. 

But it is not only Mrinal Saikia, others too saw merit in Gogoi’s stupendous victory. “Although I did not go to Jorhat to campaign for the party, I assessed that Gaurav Gogoi had influenced the middle-class and the youth in Jorhat. I congratulate Gaurav and this is his political coronation," said Siddhartha Bhattacharya, BJP MLA from Guwahati East. He said that Gogoi won the election on his own steam this time, unlike his previous victories, fuelled by his father’s legacy. 

Congress too is buoyed by Gogoi’s power show. Party leader Jairam Ramesh, soon after Gogoi’s victory was sealed, said, “Not only is the PM outgoing, but with my young colleague Gaurav Gogoi's impressive 1 lakh+ lead in Jorhat, the countdown for the exit of the Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has begun!” 

He later said, “Inspite of the manipulated delimitation exercise in Assam, the Indian National Congress retained three MP seats. Inspite of the CM's best efforts to suppress the Congress, it received 37.48% of the vote in Assam, almost double its previous vote share and surpassing the BJP's 37.43% vote share. @pradyutbordoloi’s margin increased by nearly 2 lakh votes. Inspite of the 25 public meetings held by the Assam Chief Minister to defeat @GauravGogoiAsm, he won with a 1 lakh margin. Inspite of the BJP's best efforts to prop up Badruddin Ajmal, @rakibul_inc swept Dhubri Lok Sabha with a historic margin. Time to go Mukhya Mantri! The countdown to Himanta Biswa Sarma’s exit has begun,” he said. 

JORHAT SEAT: WHAT’S THE GOGOI-SARMA FEUD?

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma had turned the fight for Jorhat into a personal one. He led multiple campaigns in the seat, sometimes apparently without the presence of the local BJP candidate. He took a dig at INC leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who had landed in Jorhat to campaign for Gogoi. "I heard around 2,000-3,000 people gathered at Priyanka Vadra's roadshow in Jorhat. Who will come to see Priyanka Gandhi? People would rather visit Kaziranga and watch tigers and rhinos," Sarma said in a dig at Gandhi.

He also questioned Gogoi's mettle as a parliamentarian, and asked whether he spoke a single word for Koliabor, Jorhat or Majuli. 

The recent delimitation exercise by the Assam government forced Gaurav Gogoi to switch his Lok Sabha constituency to Jorhat from the earlier Koliabor that was added to Nagaon. Koliabor Lok Sabha seat was then named Kaziranga. 

Jorhat was earlier represented by Tarun Gogoi. The feud between the late Tarun Gogoi and Himanta Biswa Sarma, is rather well-known. Their feud in 2015 made Sarma leave Congress and join BJP. 

Himanta was instrumental in bringing Congress back to power in 2011, and was touted to be the successor of Tarun Gogoi. However, Tarun Gogoi started projecting his son, Gaurav, as his successor. As Himanta pleaded to the Congress high command, his requests fell on deaf ears, forcing him to quit the party. Sarma was a student leader in the early 1990s.