With Assam heading to polls in a single phase on April 9, the state is staring at a high-stakes battle. The counting of votes will take place on May 4. Ahead of the elections, the Congress, attempting to capitalise on the anti-incumbency, has promised five key guarantees in its party manifesto, including cash transfers for women, health insurance and land rights if voted to power.
Meanwhile, the ruling BJP, which has won the assembly elections in Assam for two consecutive terms now since 2016, has promised protection of land, heritage and dignity of indigenous people and ₹5 lakh crore infrastructure investment in its manifesto.
Ahead of the polls, several constituencies have emerged as crucial battlegrounds. Among them are Jalukbari, Jorhat, Dispur, Khowang, and Silchar.
Jalukbari, represented by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma since 2001, will see Congress’s Bidisha Neog and Independent candidate Dipika Das going up against Sarma in the constituency, which has long been seen as a BJP bastion.
Jorhat has also emerged as one of the primary focal points of Assam's political battleground, with Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Gaurav Gogoi in a direct contest with BJP’s incumbent MLA Hitendra Nath Goswami for the seat.
Dispur, the capital of Assam and a key locality within the Guwahati metropolitan area, will witness a direct contest between a “rebel” and a “turncoat”, according to ANI. The constituency will see a battle between a former Congress leader now contesting for the ruling BJP, and a former BJP loyalist now fighting as a rebel independent candidate.
Khowang, another crucial tea belt constituency, is the setting wherein a high-stakes battle will play out for dominance in the political landscape of Upper Assam. The rural seat, which usually proves to complement Assam’s larger verdict, will see an electoral battle between sitting BJP MLA Chakradhar Gogoi, and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) president Lurinjyoti Gogoi.
Silchar, located in the Barak Valley, was once the stronghold of Congress owing to late political leader Santosh Mohan Dev. The constituency has also been represented by his wife Bithika Dev and daughter Sushmita Dev, who is a TMC MP at present. However, the BJP’s Dipayan Chakraborty won the seat in 2021, defeating the Congress by over 37,000 votes.
