‘Regionalism has won’, jailed activist Akhil Gogoi thanks voters for win

Guwahati: A day after anti-CAA activist Akhil Gogoi won from the Sivasagar constituency in Assam, he thanked the people for electing him as their representative.

Akhil, who contested as an independent candidate, won by a margin of 11,875 votes over his nearest rival Surabhi Rajkonwari of the BJP. Akhil received 57,244 votes to Surabhi’s 45,344.

In a letter addressing Sivasagar’s voters, Gogoi wrote: “I express deep gratitude to the people of Assam for supporting me by going against the government. I thank each and every one of those who supported me.”

“Regionalism has won… those who have humanity (must) support regionalism and the process of strengthening regionalism has been started in Assam. With a new idea regionalism will come up among the people of Assam,” he added.

He also urged the new government to ensure that everyone gets free vaccines and organize vaccine camps at village, panchayat levels.

His message was shared by the members of his party Raijor Dal at a press conference here on Monday.

Akhil Gogoi has been in jail since December 2019 on charges of sedition and inciting violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Assam.