Akhil Gogoi Withdraws his Candidature from Mariani Constituency; to Contest Only from Sivasagar

GUWAHATI:  In a recent political development, jailed activist and Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi has withdrawn his candidature from his 'home' constituency Mariani, and will be contesting only from Sivasagar.

The decision was taken to defeat the Bhartiya Janata Party BJP, announced the Raijor Dal in a statement.

Raijor Dal working president Bhasco De Saikia said in a statement said, " As per the wish of the party president Akhil Gogoi and the party's core committee decision, Gogoi will not contest from the Mariani constituency and will only contest from the Sivasagar constituency."

The move was taken to defeat the BJP as the party was confident that Gogoi would win from his home constituency (Mariani), hence to avoid any division of votes, he has withdrawn his candidature from the constituency.

The Raijor Dal further stated that Gogoi's sacrifice would increase one more candidate against the BJP, while indicating to Congress candidate Rupjyoti Kurmi.

Earlier, in the day the party's ally AJP candidate Alok Ghosh's nomination was cancelled from the Mariani constituency, due to irregularities in the nomination papers.

The Raijor Dal on Saturday released the list of 18 candidates that the party will field in the first two phases of the forthcoming Assembly polls. The newly-floated party's president Gogoi will contest from Sivasagar in the first phase.

Initially, Gogoi proposed all the opposition parties to field one common candidate against every BJP nominee, to defeat the BJP. He also offered not to contest the election and to unite the opposition against the BJP in the upcoming Assam Assembly Election 2021.

While filing his nominations Gogoi wrote a six-page letter addressed to the people of Assam where he claimed that he has been held captive by the BJP since December 2019. In the letter, he further urged the people to be prepared and drive out the saffron party from the state in the upcoming 2021 elections. He mentioned that his party Raijor Dal is all set to teach BJP a lesson in the Assembly Elections. He also urged everyone to remember the five martyrs of the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act 2019) movement during the polling.

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