Guwahati, March 29: Upper Assam”s Dibrugarh district is poised to witness keen contests between the Congress and the BJP in its six Assembly constituencies with the saffron party making all-out efforts to increase its tally in the Congress bastion.
The Congress has enjoyed predominance in the constituencies of Dibrugarh, Moran, Lahowal, Duliajan, Tingkhong and Naharkatia for decades owing to the support by the dominant tea tribe, which comprises 35 per cent of the electorate.
The district, which has the largest area covered by tea gardens, has other influential sections who have traditionally played decisive roles in elections like Ahoms, Sonowal Kacharis, Chutiya, Muttock and Moran communities.
Since 2001, the BJP and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) have been making steady inroads into these areas. The BJP wrested the Dibrugarh seat from the Congress in 2006, which also lost both Duliajan and Tingkhong seats in the 2001 and 2006 polls.
The BJP was successful in winning the prestigious Dibrugarh seat with its candidate Prashanta Phukan defeating two-time winning Congress candidate Dr Kalyan Kumar Gogoi by a mere 177 votes. Gogoi, who has been renominated by the party, is making all-out efforts to regain the seat this time around.
The BJP has enlisted the support of star campaigners who are concentrating their efforts in Dibrugarh and the neighbouring Upper Assam constituencies.
“We will definitely win in Dibrugarh and also in several other Upper Assam districts as we have brought in development in the area over the years,” Assam Pradesh Congress president Bhubaneswar Kalita said.
The Congress also regained the Dibrugarh parliamentary constituency from the BJP with veteran Congress leader Paban Singh Ghatowar defeating Sarbananda Sonowal, who had won the seat in 2004 on an AGP ticket, but prior to the Assembly polls had joined the BJP.
BJP was upbeat about Sonowal joining the party as he had made considerable efforts to ensure its entry into the tea belt and also in the tribal-dominated areas.
“The Congress has no chance in the area, as despite being richly endowed with tea, oil and other resources, it has lagged behind in development leading to rise in militancy,” Sonowal said.
The Dibrugarh Assembly constituency has eight candidates, including a lone Independent woman candidate Sima Ghosh, in the fray, but the actual contest is likely to be between BJP”s Phukan and Congress”s Gogoi. .
—–PTI—–