Guwahati: Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi is the only prominent opposition leader in Assam who managed to win the assembly polls and retain his seat, according to the Election Commission on Monday.Gogoi retained Sibsagar for the second consecutive term, defeating BJP’s Kushal Dowari by 17,272 votes.The opposition leader polled 86,521 votes compared to Dowari’s 69,249.Gogoi, who floated Raijor Dal in Oct 2020, was a prominent face of the Anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act agitation of Assam.Arrested in Dec 2019 during the protests, he was charged under UAPA and spent 567 days in jail.He contested the 2021 Assembly polls from custody and won Sibsagar as an Independent. He became the first Assamese to win an election despite remaining behind bars and without any physical campaigning.Gogoi also became the first in Assam Assembly to take oath as a prisoner MLA, coming out of jail on a special permission by court.After his release from jail in 2021, he joined the Assembly and started opposing the BJP government’s policies. On many occasions, he directly confronted CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, resulting in a heated exchange of words.Gogoi opposed the BJP govt on CAA, alleged fake encounters, evictions of minorities and privatization of resources.He remains a key dissenting figure in Assam politics, blending farmer activism with legislative work on land rights, tribal issues and civil liberties.
