Jorhat: Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi on Tuesday filed nomination papers as a party candidate for the Jorhat Lok Sabha constituency in Assam. Accompanied by the party's state unit president Bhupen Kumar Borah, leader of opposition in the assembly Debabrata Saikia, Gogoi, the deputy leader of the Congress in the outgoing Lok Sabha, submitted his nomination papers to Returning Officer Pulak Kumar Mahanta.
Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday filed his nomination as the BJP candidate for the Dibrugarh parliamentary constituency in Assam, an official said. Sonowal, accompanied by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, filed his nomination papers before Returning Officer Bikram Kairi. Polling for the Dibrugarh constituency will be held on April 19 in the first phase of the general elections.
Assam has 14 Lok Sabha seats. Besides Sarma, Sonowal was accompanied by Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) president Atul Bora, United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) leader Promode Bodo, sitting BJP MLA and Union minister Rameswar Teli and state party president Bhabesh Kalita.
Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi, deputy leader of the opposition in the assembly and Congress' Dhubri candidate Rakibul Hussain, MLAs Rekibuddin Ahmed, Nandita Das and Sibamoni Bora and several other leaders were present there. The Congress candidate, clad in a white kurta with 'gamosa' (traditional hand towels) draped around his neck, led a procession from Jorhat Stadium to the office of the returning officer to file the nomination papers.
Elections to the Jorhat Lok Sabha constituency will be held on April 19 in the first of the three-phased polls for the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Gogoi, a sitting MP from the Kaliabor seat which has been renamed as Kaziranga after the delimitation exercise, was fielded from Jorhat this time.
Jorhat Lok Sabha seat was once represented by his late father and former chief minister Tarun Gogoi for three terms.
Before filing his nomination papers, he offered prayers at places of worship of different communities. 'Ahead of filing my nomination for the Jorhat Lok Sabha Parliamentary Constituency, I sought blessings at Gurdwara Ramgarhia Sabha, Dewal Namghar, Kamalaboria Namghar, Tarajan Masjid and the Borbheta Baptist Church in Jorhat. I prayed for the peace and prosperity of my state of Assam," Gogoi posted on 'X'.
The Congress leader's main contestant is BJP's sitting MP Topon Gogoi who will file his nomination on Wednesday in the presence of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. For the first phase of polls, the last date for filing of nominations is March 27, and scrutiny of papers will be on March 28.
Five Lok Sabha constituencies - Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Kaziranga and Sonitpur - will go to polls in the first phase. In the outgoing Lok Sabha, BJP held nine seats from Assam, Congress three, AIUDF and an independent one each.
