Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi on Tuesday thanked party leaders for giving him ticket from Jorhat assembly constituency for the upcoming assembly elections in the state and showing confidence in his abilities. Gaurav Gogoi, a three-time MP and deputy leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, will be contesting the state assembly elections for the first time and is being projected as the opposition’s chief ministerial candidate.
‘Grateful for the confidence in my abilities’
In a post on X, he said, ‘I am grateful to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, CPP President Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, party leaders KC Venugopal and Jitendra Alwar, members of the Chief Election Commission for their constant guidance and faith in my abilities.’
Expressed gratitude to family members including father
He expressed his gratitude to the people of Jorhat Lok Sabha seat, without whom he would not have been able to reach this position. He said, ‘I am grateful to my late father Tarun Gogoi, who taught me what it meant to be an Assamese and a Congressman.’ The Jorhat MP further said, ‘I am also grateful to my family, my mother, sister, wife and two young children, who have endured a lot, but always with decency, happiness and dignity.’ He said that the time has come to take Assam in a new and bold direction. Gogoi further said, ‘Let us once again dream of Natunbor Aksom (New Greater Assam). The time has come for change.
42 candidates of Assam Congress
The first list of Congress includes 42 names. Gaurav Gogoi is the candidate from Jorhat, according to the list, Abhijeet Paul has been given ticket from Silchar, Indranil Pegu from Majuli and Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress President Meera Borthakur Goswami has been given ticket from Dispur seat. Similarly, ticket has been given to Abdus Subhan Ali Sarkar from Gauripur, Markleen Marak from Goalpara West (SU), Girish Barua from Bongaigaon. Mahanand Sarkar has been made the candidate from Barpeta. Ashok Sharma will be the party candidate from Nalbari.
Former minister and state Congress president Ripun Bora will contest from Barachala, while another former minister Ajit Singh Barak will contest from Udharbond constituency in the valley. Former minister and vice-president Pranati Phukan, who was a four-time MLA till 2016, will contest from Naharkatiya in Upper Assam. Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain’s son Tanjeel Hussain will contest from Samaguri where he lost to BJP’s Diplu Ranjan Sarmah in the 2024 bypoll. Pratik Bordoloi, son of Nagaon MP Prodyut Bordoloi, will contest from the Margherita seat, which his father has represented thrice. Pranjal Ghatowar, son of five-time former MP and prominent tea tribe leader Paban Singh Ghatowar, will contest from Chabua-Lahowal seat.
Former BJP MLA Aminul Haq Laskar, who joined the Congress in 2024, will contest from Sonai constituency in Barak Valley. Former AGP MLA Satyabrata Kalita, who joined the Congress in September 2025, will contest from the Kamalpur seat. Other prominent candidates include former Congress MLA Durga Bhumij from Doomduma, Binanda Kumar Saikia from Sepahijhar and Bubul Das from Jagiroad (SC) constituency.
Congress is a major part of the unified opposition alliance ‘Assam Sommilito Morcha’ formed to challenge the ruling BJP. It has made seat-sharing arrangements with Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and Left parties, but is yet to finalize it with Raijor Dal. At present, the ruling BJP has 64 MLAs in the 126-member assembly, while its allies AGP has nine MLAs, UPPL has seven and BPF has three. The opposition has 26 Congress MLAs, 15 AIUDF and one CPI(M). There is also an independent MLA.
Priyanka, Shivkumar and Mistry will take command
To snatch the power of the state from BJP, Congress has fielded Karnataka’s Deputy CM DK Shivakumar along with its General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Assam. Apart from this, experienced Madhusudan Mistry is also standing on the Assam front. Assembly elections are to be held in Assam along with West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The 2021 assembly elections in Assam were held in three phases. Congress is losing to BJP in two consecutive assembly elections. This election is also not going to be easy for the country’s oldest party.