The Sibsagar seat, now held by Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi, was one of 26 that the BJP had allotted to the AGP. Photo: X/@PmargheritaBJP
A ‘friendly’ twist in the electoral contest in Sivasagar, the Ahom heartland of eastern Assam, has triggered a “fight to the finish” between allies of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made a last-minute move on Monday (March 23, 2026) to field former extremist Kushal Dowari from the Sibsagar Assembly constituency, pitting him against a candidate from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which is also an NDA member.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said it was a “calibrated electoral call” to go for a “friendly contest”, after discussions with the AGP.
Triangular fight
The Sibsagar seat, now held by Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi, was one of 26 that the BJP had allotted to the AGP. Accordingly, the AGP nominated former Minister Prodip Hazarika, one of the main leaders of the anti-foreigners Assam Agitation of 1979-85, from the constituency.
Mr. Gogoi, a heavyweight of the Congress-led six-party Opposition alliance, is seeking re-election from Sibsagar, seen as a prestigious seat because of its status as the erstwhile capital of the Ahom dynasty that ruled large swathes of Assam for 600 years before British colonisation.
Sibsagar was headed for a straight contest between Mr. Gogoi and Mr. Hazarika, a sitting MLA currently representing the Amguri seat that was devoured by the 2023 delimitation exercise. The sudden entry of Mr. Dowari, once a dreaded gunman in the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), has made it a triangular fight.
‘Nothing friendly about it’
Mr. Hazarika said there was nothing called ‘friendly’ in an electoral battle, indicating that a third candidate usually benefits from the division of votes between allies in such a contest. On March 20, after filing his nomination, he said he would take his fight forward with the support of everyone.
Mr. Dowari, a two-time MLA from the erstwhile Thowra constituency, made many voters uneasy by asserting that his entry would ensure the “political murder” of Mr. Gogoi. The latter retaliated by calling him the “biggest murderer”, referring to his reported reign of terror before giving up arms.
“Sivasagar is a district of highly educated people. Why should they elect a person with blood on his hands? The BJP has insulted the people of Sivasagar by imposing him upon them,” Mr. Gogoi said.
Mr. Dowari and Mr. Hazarika are first-timers from the Sibsagar constituency, but both belong to Sivasagar district. The former won the Thowra seat in 2006 and 2016, while the latter has won Amguri five times — in 1985, 1996, 2006, 2016, and 2021.
Sivasagar sports the Rang Ghar, an amphitheatre of 1744 vintage that is an iconic cultural symbol of Assam. It was also where the ULFA was formed in April 1979.
Published – March 24, 2026 10:29 pm IST
