The rejuvenation of a battered Congress in Assam depends largely on Gaurav Gogoi, the deputy leader of the party in the Lok Sabha and its face in the northeast. After Kaliabor, the constituency he represented twice, became a casualty of the 2023 delimitation exercise, the Congress has fielded him from Jorhat, which his father and former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi represented thrice. He says the INDIA bloc will make it tough for the BJP-led NDA to achieve the 400-seat target. Excerpts:
Is the INDIA bloc in order as allies have fielded candidates against Congress?
The Trinamool Congress is a rival in Meghalaya’s Tura while the Aam Aadmi Party has fielded candidates against our party in Lakhimpur and our ally Assam Jatiya Parishad in Dibrugarh. But people in the country understand that we may have to be friends in one place and opponents in others – like the AAP and the Congress in Delhi and Punjab, and the Left Front and the Congress in Kerala. The people have also found out that the BJP employs the use-and-throw policy for its allies as has been the case with the Akali Dal in Punjab and the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. The INDIA bloc is in better order than the NDA is in.
Has the Congress campaign been affected by the government’s punitive measures?
It is not just the politicians or political parties. The BJP is arm-twisting everyone from those in the corporate sector to the common people through riders on various schemes. They are trying to enforce a Russian-style oligarchy while Congress is adhering to the democratic values enshrined in the Constitution.
How much do the Muslims and Adivasis matter for Congress in elections?
We do not believe in the politics of polarisation like the BJP. The Bharat Jodo Yatra showed that the Congress believes in bringing communities together and working for social justice without fancy slogans. All communities matter to us, and not just for elections. There is a perception that the Adivasis or tea plantation workers have gravitated toward the BJP, but the youth of the community are a frustrated lot today with the industry in a crisis and the lack of employment opportunities. The diversity within the Adivasis is also being challenged by the imposition of the cultural and religious values that they (BJP) believe in. Rahul Gandhi’s promise of a caste census for better distribution of resources is gaining popularity among the community.
Is the BJP working with the AIUDF to beat the Congress in Muslim-dominated constituencies?
What Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) is doing in other parts of the country, Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF (All India United Democratic Front) is doing in Assam – aiding the BJP as its B-team to achieve the Congress-mukt Bharat goal. But the voters they have targeted have seen through this design.
Can the INDIA block prevent the BJP from achieving the 400-seat target?
It depends upon the belief of the people in our promise to ensure an India where freedom of expression and autonomy of various institutions are ensured. Setting a target implies some kind of a design to win at any cost.