GUWAHATI: The Congress is planning to improve its chances in Assam's northeastern region by sending party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Priyanka Gandhi to campaign in important areas like Barpeta and Dhubri.
Kharge will hold a press conference in Guwahati on April 27, where the Congress candidate Mira Borthakur Goswami is competing against the BJP's Bijuli Kalita Medhi.
After the press conference, Kharge will address a public meeting in Barpeta. Priyanka Gandhi is scheduled to campaign in Dhubri on May 1.
The Barpeta seat became a point of contention when the Congress chose Deep Gayan, the state Seva Dal chief, as its candidate.
This decision upset their ally CPI-M, which wanted the seat for their candidate as part of a 16-party alliance known as the United Opposition Forum.
Since the Congress didn't withdraw their candidate, the CPI-M decided to field Manoranjan Talukdar, making it a three-way race against Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leader Phani Bhushan Chowdhury, who is the candidate of the ruling alliance.
The current Congress Member of Parliament (MP) from Barpeta, Abdul Khaleque, was not given a ticket this time. He resigned from the party, but later withdrew his resignation after party chief Kharge requested him to do so.
Dhubri, which has a majority Muslim population, has traditionally been a stronghold for the Congress. However, this time the Congress has fielded Rakibul Hussain against former ally AIUDF leader Badruddin Ajmal.
In the 2019 national elections, the Congress ran candidates in all 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state but only managed to win three seats—Kaliabor, Nowgong, and Barpeta—with a vote share of 35.5 percent.
In the last election, the BJP contested 10 seats and won nine, securing a 36 percent vote share. Their ally AGP contested three seats but didn't win any.
Recently, both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi campaigned for Congress candidates in Jorhat and Dibrugarh.
In Jorhat, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi ran against BJP’s Topon Gogoi. The party has given the Dibrugarh seat to ally Assam Jatiya Parishad, whose leader Lurinjyoti Gogoi is running against BJP’s Sarbananda Sonowal, a former chief minister, and AAP’s Manoj Dhanowar.
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