Jailed Akhil Gogoi to contest Assam election

Guwahati

Jailed activist Akhil Gogoi will contest the upcoming election in Assam from Sibsagar as a candidate of his newly-floated Raijor Dal.

Announcing the list of 18 candidates the party fielded in the first two phases, Raijor Dal working president Bhasco De Saikia said Gogoi, who is in judicial custody after arrest during the protests over CAA, will contest from the Sibsagar constituency in Upper Assam. In the first phase, the party will contest 12 seats, and in the second phase, it has fielded candidates in six constituencies.

“We have decided to contest in only 18 seats with the intention of not dividing the votes so that the BJP is defeated and to ensure that there is an anti-CAA government in the state,” Saikia said. In the first phase, besides Gogoi from Sibsagar, the party named Dwiponjyoti Phulan from Chabua, Mohini Mohan Ligira from Moran and Lohit Gogoi from Mahmara.