Guwahati, Nov 25 (IANS) Assam BJP MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi asserted on Monday that Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi does not have mass appeal and people rejected him in the November 13 by-elections.
Talking to reporters here, Kurmi said: “Gaurav Gogoi camped in the Behali Assembly constituency and campaigned extensively for the Congress candidate in that seat. However, he failed to impress the voters and people of Behali voted for the BJP.”
Drawing a comparison between the popularity of Himanta Biswa Sarma and Gaurav Gogoi, Kurmi said: “Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma campaigned only for a day in Behali and successfully got votes for the BJP candidate. The people of the state were very much impressed with CM Sarma’s governance model and our government will come to power again in the 2026 Assembly election with a bigger majority.”
The BJP swept the by-election in Assam by winning all five Assembly constituencies – Dholai, Behali, Samaguri, Bongaigaon and Sidli.
The bypolls were necessitated as the legislators in these seats were elected to the Lok Sabha.
Congress fought by-elections in five seats but drew a blank.
Except for Samaguri, the other four constituencies were held by BJP and its allies – Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL).
Congress heavyweight and now Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain has been representing the Samaguri seat in the state Assembly since 2001. He fought this year’s Lok Sabha election and defeated three-time MP Badruddin Ajmal in Dhubri. His son Tanzil Hussain was given a Congress ticket to fight polls in Samaguri; however, he lost to BJP’s Diplu Ranjan Sarmah by a margin of more than 26,000 votes.
The BJP has retained two constituencies- Dholai and Behali with Nihar Ranjan Das and Diganta Ghatowal comfortably winning these two constituencies in the by-election.
The AGP also won the Bongaigaon seat by a margin of 35,164 votes. Diptimayee Choudhury won here on AGP’s ticket. Her husband and now a Lok Sabha MP from Barpeta – Phanibhusan Choudhury was a six-time MLA from Bongaigaon seat.
Another ally of the BJP, UPPL also won the byelection in Sidli Assembly constituency defeating his nearest candidate by a difference of 37,016 votes.
–IANS
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