Guwahati: Lok Sabha poll is semi-final; final showdown will be in 2026, says Gaurav Gogoi

GUWAHATI: Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati wore a festive look today when APCC (Assam Pradesh Congress Committee) president Bhupen Borah and CLP (Congress Legislature Party) leader Debabrata Saikia felicitated the party's three Lok Sabha poll winners: Gaurav Gogoi, Rakibul Hussain, and Pradyut Bordoloi.

After the felicitation, the newly elected MP from the Jorhat Lok Sabha Constituency, Gaurav Gogoi, said, "The people of the state voted in favour of the Constitution of India. The voting trend in the state this year has shown that the people of the state are ready to give the BJP a befitting reply in the Assembly poll in 2026. The Lok Sabha poll is the semifinal for us. The final showdown will be in the Assembly election in 2026."

On his win, Gaurav Gogoi said, "I didn't expect to get such a large number of votes from Jorhat. However, campaigners of the BJP campaigned in such a way against me that it made people vote in my favour. The voters in Dhubri elected Rakibul Hussain to put an end to the communal AIUDF. And the people of Nagaon re-elected Pradyut Bordoloi for the strong stand he had taken in parliament as an MP from Assam."

He said, "I don't want any party posts. I held various posts in the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and performed sincerely all responsibilities given to me by the party high command. I don't want any posts now, so let me work for the people of Assam for two years. I want to bring back peace to the state, besides rendering service to the party."

Lauding APCC president Bhupen Bora, he said, "It's Borah who made the opposition alliance minus the AIUDF possible in the state. I did support his stand on the unified opposition in the state. We should not be complacent after the win. The panchayat poll is around the corner. We need to get ready for this poll, apart from the Assembly election in 2026."

Nagaon MP Pradyut Bordoloi said, "This Lok Sabha poll has put an end to the BJP and AIUDF's politics of hatred. This is an indication of a new political direction in the state. We need to root out the politics of hatred in Assam. No power in the state can resist our united force in the 2026 Assembly election."

Speaking on the occasion, Rakibul Hussain said, "We have been able to perform well because of our grassroots workers. Our performance has frustrated Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. He has come to know everything now. Himanta Biswa Sarma once made former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi cry, and it's his turn to cry now. The rebellion in the BJP has come to such a point that their members themselves will topple the state government. We needn't do anything for that."

APCC president Bhupen Borah said, "We have polled a larger share of votes than the BJP in this Lok Sabha poll. The people of the state have given a message, and if we speak in one voice, if we keep our secular character intact, and if we continue to work for peace and progress in the state, we will get the blessings of the people of Assam. Dispur will not be far from us."

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