New Delhi, Gaurav Gogoi is clear about the recipe for his historic victory from Assam's Jorhat in the Lok Sabha elections: He expected an A-plus opposition but faced a B-minus rival campaign. Above all, he says, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charisma and campaign had little impact.
Despite being thrown into the mix with only a month to campaign in an unfamiliar and newly-reorganized constituency, no one gave the young Congress star much of a chance of winning. But he surprised both fans and opponents by winning the seat by a margin of 1.44 lakh votes. This was one of only three victories for the Congress party among the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state.BJP won nine seats.
Speaking to editors at the news agency's headquarters, Gogoi said people found a credible platform in the Congress to express their anger against the BJP rule at both the state and national levels. "In Assam, I have seen a very disappointing and Saw a weak campaign. I was expecting a much stronger, meaningful, effective campaign. I had planned for an A-plus BJP campaign but I got a B-minus campaign.
He said he did not see Modi's influence, although the Prime Minister had visited Jorhat twice during the elections.He said, "I was extremely surprised that there was not a single topic of conversation that people liked."
It was quite different in the last two elections. He said, in 2014, people of Assam were talking about the Gujarat model and in 2019 they got caught in (national security) incidents, which led to elections. He said, "But in 2024, it will be a very local election. People were looking at local issues, state issues.Prime Minister Modi and his campaign had no direct, concrete impact."
Moreover, there was discontent against the BJP government among the people in his constituency.
He said, "Dissatisfaction is always there. This time people have got a credible platform in the form of Congress to express their dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction is against the BJP government in Delhi and Assam.Gogoi said Jorhat was an important election for the BJP, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his own political plans for several reasons.
"There are many important reasons for our victory. Congress gained the trust of the people because there was always discontent. Because the factors which went against the BJP at the national level in UP, Rajasthan... the same factors worked in Assam." " He said.Gogoi's previous constituency Koliabor, which he had represented twice since 2014, ceased to exist after the delimitation of constituencies and Koliabor was renamed Kaziranga. To make matters worse, he was re-elected just 30 days before the elections. Earlier, the party high command had asked him to contest elections from Jorhat, which has become a Congress bastion and a BJP stronghold which the BJP has won twice - in 2019 by a margin of 82,000 votes and in 2014 by a margin of 1 lakh votes.
However, this time Gaurav Gogoi won over sitting BJP MP Topon Gogoi.
Both Gogois belong to the Ahom community, which constitutes 32 per cent of the voters in Jorhat. The constituency is made up of 10 assembly constituencies, of which only two were won by the Congress, one was won by an opposition independent and the rest were with the BJP – an indication of the uphill battle Gaurav Gogoi faced. Incidentally, the Kaziranga seat was won by the BJP by a margin of over 2.4 lakh votes."I must say it was a tough election. Out of the 14 constituencies in Assam, my constituency had changed the most in terms of demography and geography. Every other constituency changed because of delimitation.
“But it was a little less important in terms of geography and demographics. My area went through a radical change.And I didn't know from where I would contest. While I remained MP from the old constituency, it fell apart and I don't know where to go,'' he said.
Gogoi, who was the deputy leader of the Congress in the outgoing Lok Sabha, said the Congress' Central Election Committee decided that he would contest from Jorhat in mid-March. Gogoi said if his father, three-time Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, was alive Had he been there, he would have guided the campaign and introduced him to the grassroots workers of the constituency.
“I know the senior leaders, but I don't know the grassroots level workers.I don't know the organization. During my campaign I used to go to small panchayat level meetings, collect (phone) numbers. Because I needed to know who were the people who would spread our message in every nook and corner, who were the people who would promote our publicity material.”
This period of introduction would have been much shorter had his father been there, he said. "I missed him, he had this can-do attitude.I think with that spirit, I entered the election and I conducted myself the way he would have conducted himself – with a lot of aggression but at the same time maintaining the dignity of Assam and politics,” he said.
Gogoi said, “Had his father been alive, we would have hugged in celebration."
Despite being thrown into the mix with only a month to campaign in an unfamiliar and newly-reorganized constituency, no one gave the young Congress star much of a chance of winning. But he surprised both fans and opponents by winning the seat by a margin of 1.44 lakh votes. This was one of only three victories for the Congress party among the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state.BJP won nine seats.
Speaking to editors at the news agency's headquarters, Gogoi said people found a credible platform in the Congress to express their anger against the BJP rule at both the state and national levels. "In Assam, I have seen a very disappointing and Saw a weak campaign. I was expecting a much stronger, meaningful, effective campaign. I had planned for an A-plus BJP campaign but I got a B-minus campaign.
He said he did not see Modi's influence, although the Prime Minister had visited Jorhat twice during the elections.He said, "I was extremely surprised that there was not a single topic of conversation that people liked."
It was quite different in the last two elections. He said, in 2014, people of Assam were talking about the Gujarat model and in 2019 they got caught in (national security) incidents, which led to elections. He said, "But in 2024, it will be a very local election. People were looking at local issues, state issues.Prime Minister Modi and his campaign had no direct, concrete impact."
Moreover, there was discontent against the BJP government among the people in his constituency.
He said, "Dissatisfaction is always there. This time people have got a credible platform in the form of Congress to express their dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction is against the BJP government in Delhi and Assam.Gogoi said Jorhat was an important election for the BJP, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his own political plans for several reasons.
"There are many important reasons for our victory. Congress gained the trust of the people because there was always discontent. Because the factors which went against the BJP at the national level in UP, Rajasthan... the same factors worked in Assam." " He said.Gogoi's previous constituency Koliabor, which he had represented twice since 2014, ceased to exist after the delimitation of constituencies and Koliabor was renamed Kaziranga. To make matters worse, he was re-elected just 30 days before the elections. Earlier, the party high command had asked him to contest elections from Jorhat, which has become a Congress bastion and a BJP stronghold which the BJP has won twice - in 2019 by a margin of 82,000 votes and in 2014 by a margin of 1 lakh votes.
However, this time Gaurav Gogoi won over sitting BJP MP Topon Gogoi.
Both Gogois belong to the Ahom community, which constitutes 32 per cent of the voters in Jorhat. The constituency is made up of 10 assembly constituencies, of which only two were won by the Congress, one was won by an opposition independent and the rest were with the BJP – an indication of the uphill battle Gaurav Gogoi faced. Incidentally, the Kaziranga seat was won by the BJP by a margin of over 2.4 lakh votes."I must say it was a tough election. Out of the 14 constituencies in Assam, my constituency had changed the most in terms of demography and geography. Every other constituency changed because of delimitation.
“But it was a little less important in terms of geography and demographics. My area went through a radical change.And I didn't know from where I would contest. While I remained MP from the old constituency, it fell apart and I don't know where to go,'' he said.
Gogoi, who was the deputy leader of the Congress in the outgoing Lok Sabha, said the Congress' Central Election Committee decided that he would contest from Jorhat in mid-March. Gogoi said if his father, three-time Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, was alive Had he been there, he would have guided the campaign and introduced him to the grassroots workers of the constituency.
“I know the senior leaders, but I don't know the grassroots level workers.I don't know the organization. During my campaign I used to go to small panchayat level meetings, collect (phone) numbers. Because I needed to know who were the people who would spread our message in every nook and corner, who were the people who would promote our publicity material.”
This period of introduction would have been much shorter had his father been there, he said. "I missed him, he had this can-do attitude.I think with that spirit, I entered the election and I conducted myself the way he would have conducted himself – with a lot of aggression but at the same time maintaining the dignity of Assam and politics,” he said.
Gogoi said, “Had his father been alive, we would have hugged in celebration."
