Assam polls will be fight between people and ‘raja’: Gaurav Gogoi

With Assam inching toward assembly elections, the political air is thick with confrontation, and Congress state president Gaurav Gogoi has framed the coming contest in stark, almost monarchical terms — as a struggle between the people and what he called a modern-day “raja” (ruler).

Addressing a Gana Abhibarthan (mass convention) organised by the Dibrugarh District Citizens’ Forum on Friday, Gogoi launched a blistering attack on the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government, accusing it of presiding over an authoritarian order that stifles dissent and hollowes out democratic freedoms. The elections, likely in March–April, he said, would not be a routine political contest but a battle for the soul of democracy in Assam.

“The Constitution gives citizens not only the right to vote, but also the right to criticise,” Gogoi asserted, warning that this fundamental freedom was being steadily eroded. Democracy, he said, cannot survive without the right to question — to ask what the government is doing in health, education and infrastructure — yet this government, he alleged, seeks obedience rather than empowerment.

Drawing a sweeping analogy, Gogoi said the BJP’s political culture resembled that of feudal rule. “A maharaja sits in Delhi, and wherever they are in power, a raja is installed,” he remarked, accusing the ruling dispensation of reviving the mindset of kings who demanded loyalty over accountability.

He likened the government’s welfare schemes to a ruler’s largesse, distributed occasionally to project benevolence, but with strings firmly attached. “Public money belongs to the people. But today, benefits come with conditions — don’t join another party, don’t attend their meetings, don’t question or criticise,” he alleged, calling it a display of arrogance and intimidation.

Gogoi further accused the BJP of governing through fear and division, warning that no throne is permanent. “Those sitting in Delhi and Dispur cannot rule forever. If the people unite and remain alert, they can uproot these leaders in a second,” he said, urging citizens to rise above fear.

According to him, whenever public unity threatens the government, it responds by fanning divisions — along religious, linguistic and regional lines — pitting Upper Assam against Lower Assam, Karbi against non-Karbi, Bodo against non-Bodo, and community against community. “This politics of fragmentation is designed to weaken collective strength,” he said, calling on conscious citizens to expose such conspiracies.

Taking a personal swipe at the chief minister, Gogoi said Assam, which should rank among the country’s top five states in welfare, instead languishes near the bottom, even as the chief minister figures among India’s wealthiest. The contrast, he suggested, spoke volumes about the priorities of the present regime.

The Congress leader also underlined that opposition unity was “100 per cent certain”, stressing that the upcoming election was not about party rivalries. “This is not BJP versus Congress, or opposition versus government,” he said. “It is the people of Assam versus the ruler.”

Several opposition leaders, including Assam Jatiya Parishad president Lurinjyoti Gogoi and Raijor Dal general secretary Dhairya Konwar, were present at the convention, lending weight to Gogoi’s call for a broad, united front as Assam heads into a decisive electoral season.

With PTI inputs