GUWAHATI: Activist Yogendra Yadav today met jailed leader and Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital, GMCH where he is undergoing treatment.
Yadav was accompanied by Kisan Sangharsh Samiti leader Sunilam. Following the meeting, Yadav appealed to the people of Assam to oust the BJP regime from the state.
While talking about the farmers, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha leader said that the BJP has to be defeated for taking decisions against the interests and welfare of the farmer.
Yadav further stated that the ruling party has been torturing Gogoi mentally and his medical condition has deteriorated over time. He further alleged that Gogoi has been forcefully detained in an effort to ensure that he is not able to meet any people during the elections and termed the attempt by the government as a "political trial" and not a "criminal trial".
Yadav later appealed to the Congress party to reconsider its decision of fielding a candidate against Gogoi. Meanwhile, Sunilam asserted that he would canvass for Gogoi in Sivasagar.
The peasant leader Gogoi was detained in December 2019 following the anti- CAA protests in the state. He was later booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
It needs to be mentioned here, Gogoi is contesting the upcoming Assam Assembly elections with the sole purpose to defeat the saffron party. Initially, he opted to contest from two constituencies- Mariani and Sivasagar. However, later the party announced that Gogoi will not contest from the Mariani constituency and will only contest from the Sivasagar constituency. The move was taken to defeat the BJP as the party was confident that Gogoi would win from his home constituency (Mariani), hence to avoid any division of votes, he has withdrawn his candidature from the constituency.
Gogoi also proposed all the opposition parties to field one common candidate against every BJP nominee, to defeat the BJP.
Elections to the 126-member Assam assembly will be held in three phases, Sivasagar goes to the polls in the first phase on March 27 along with 46 other constituencies. In the second phase, 39 constituencies will go to polls on April 1 while 40 constituencies will be going to polls in the last phase on April 6.