Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi Fails In His First Attempt To Become MLA From Assam's Jorhat

Exit polls are for TV debates, Assam Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi who contested his first assembly election had said two days ago after pollsters predicted the BJP retaining power in the northeast state bordering Bangladesh.

Today, Gaurav Gogoi - the son of former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi - lost from the Jorhat seat to BJP's Hitendra Nath Goswami by over 20,000 votes. The trends also turned out the way exit polls had predicted and proved Gaurav Gogoi wrong as they revealed a BJP win in Assam with 99 seats. The Congress won 23 seats.

For now, Gaurav Gogoi's only connection with Jorhat is in the form of his Lok Sabha constituency, which he won in the 2024 national elections, defeating the BJP's Topon Kumar Gogoi by 1.4 lakh votes.

In comparison to the Congress leader, the BJP's Hitendra Nath Goswami is a five-term MLA who has represented the constituency thrice as an AGP leader and twice as a BJP MLA. He delivers Jorhat to the BJP this time again, making it his third win in a row.

The BJP candidate polled 59,000 votes, while Gaurav Gogoi received 39,000 votes. The Assam assembly has 126 seats.

The opposition Congress's leadership changes and a desperate campaign to reclaim lost ground by attracting its traditional support base has not worked in Assam. This includes the Congress's failure in gaining the trust of the Ahom community, tea tribes and Muslims, who were once the bedrock of the party in the Upper Assam region.