Prasanta Phukan scripts fifth straight win from Dibrugarh with record margin

A CORRESPONDENT

DIBRUGARH: Sitting MLA Prasanta Phukan on Monday scripted history by winning the Dibrugarh Assembly constituency for a record fifth consecutive time, defeating Assam Jatiya Parishad’s (AJP) Mainak Patra by a margin of over 72,043 votes. 

The victory marks the most commanding performance in a political journey that began nearly two decades ago with a razor-thin margin of just 175 votes.

The BJP stalwart and state power minister’s latest triumph continues one of Assam’s most remarkable electoral stories. When Phukan first won from Dibrugarh in 2006, he defeated sitting Congress MLA Dr Kalyan Kumar Gogoi by a mere 175 votes—28,424 against 28,249—in what was then a stunning upset in a constituency considered an impregnable Congress bastion.

Since that breakthrough, Phukan’s winning margins have grown exponentially. He secured victory by 19,609 votes in 2011, 27,374 in 2016, and 38,005 in 2021. Monday’s emphatic result, however, surpassed all previous records.

“This victory belongs to the people of Dibrugarh. Their unwavering trust and blessings have kept me going for two decades, and I am deeply humbled by this massive mandate,” Phukan said after the results were declared.

Phukan’s political trajectory is particularly significant given that the BJP had a negligible presence in Upper Assam when he first contested. In 1985, the party’s candidate from this seat managed only 260 votes. Phukan’s ability to dismantle the Congress legacy—once led by stalwarts like former CM Keshab Chandra Gogoi—is viewed as one of the most striking individual political achievements in the state’s recent history.

While opponents like Mainak Patra attempted to capitalize on local issues such as waterlogging and the maintenance of the Dibrugarh Town Protection (DTP) drain, the ‘Phukan Factor’ proved insurmountable. With this result, the veteran leader firmly cements his place as the most dominant electoral force Dibrugarh has ever seen, proving that his influence has only strengthened with time.

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