The aura of former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi lingers beyond his portrait adorning the wall of Rajiv Bhavan, the local Congress office, at Titabor station Tiniali. But his legacy is struggling to be alive at Thengal Kachari Cultural Centre and Museum – a landmark – that he had initiated and his successor Sarbananda Sonowal had inaugurated in December 2020.
Thengal Kachari is a Scheduled Tribe and Titabor is the administrative headquarters of the Thengal Kachari Autonomous Council the BJP wrested from the Congress in December 2016.
Titabar, the Assembly constituency, has been a Congress stronghold since 2001. Dip Gogoi won it that year but vacated it for brother Tarun Gogoi.
The BJP sniffs a chance in this Congress bastion for a few reasons. The absence of the former CM is one, the Congress not fielding his son and MP Gaurav Gogoi and opting for the inexperienced Bhaskar Jyoti Baruah is another.
Alliance with AIUDF
The BJP is also banking on the perception that the alliance with Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front would harm the prospects of the Congress in the Assamese dominated eastern Assam, more so in Titabar where the late Mr. Gogoi defied the “Modi wave” of 2016.
“The story could have been different had Gaurav Gogoi contested,” local teacher Imtiaz Hussain said.
The Congress, hopeful of weaning the tea plantation workers away from the BJP with enhanced daily wage guarantee, is confident that the son not taking the father’s space will make no difference. “My relationship with the people of Titabor is beyond politics,” Gaurav Gogoi had tweeted, seeking votes for Mr. Baruah.
“The Congress shattered the myth of dynastic politics by fielding me. I hope the people’s blessings and the goodwill that late Tarun Gogoi enjoyed will see me through. Besides, I am a local candidate,” Mr. Baruah told The Hindu .
His Assam Jatiya Parishad rival Sailendra Kumar Hazarika has also pinned hopes on his “local” status. Both appear to be hinting at the BJP candidate, “non-local” Hemanta Kalita, who is from Jorhat town. But the BJP believes that a slew of development projects and Mr. Kalita’s “lockdown generosity” in 2020 would stand him in good stead. “I have been acquainted with the constituency since winning in 1996 for the AGP,” he said.
The fourth candidate in the fray is Dilip Gogoi, an independent.
