Gaurav urges Cong unity amid nepotism allegations

Guwahati: Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi urged party leaders and workers to unite to take on CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and the BJP’s “arrogance” and “corruption”, as the Congress’s first list of 42 candidates triggered a fresh political row over alleged nepotism.

The list, released on Tuesday, includes six sons of senior Congress leaders, including sons of three former chief ministers — prompting Sarma to label it a “list of successors”. Congress leaders countered that the selections balance experienced faces with younger candidates for what they described as a decisive contest against the BJP.




Gogoi, responding to criticism and seeking to prevent internal dissent, said the list was on expected lines and appealed to those excluded to stay with the party. “Today, we all in the Congress must unite and those who, for some reasons, could not get a ticket, for them my message is that you all are fighters of Congress. Party leadership has requested you all to wait for a while (for tickets),” he said. He added, “This fight in the coming days is against CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, against BJP’s arrogance and corruption, and to build new Bor Asom (greater Assam).”

Some opposition parties also questioned the timing of the Congress announcement, saying it came before the opposition alliance was finalised. Gogoi said he had already signalled the timeline earlier. He said he had indicated at a February press conference that the first list would come in the last week of February or the first week of March.

Sarma, meanwhile, launched a sharp attack on Wednesday, alleging the list reflects familism. “In the Congress list, there are only names of sons and daughters of their fathers. It can be termed as a list or as a roll of successors. There is no mention of general Congress workers. But in the BJP list, people will see names of general Congress workers,” he said.

Among those named are first-time entrant Prateek Bordoloi, son of Lok Sabha MP Pradyut Bordoloi, and several former ministers including Ripun Bora, Pranati Phukan and Ajit Singh. The list also includes sitting MLAs such as Nandita Das, Diganta Barman and Nurul Huda.

The Congress list features sons of three former chief ministers of the party: Jorhat candidate Gaurav Gogoi, son of late Tarun Gogoi; Nazira nominee Debabrata Saikia, son of late Hiteswar Saikia; and Barkhetri candidate Diganta Barman, son of late Bhumidhar Barman. Also named are Tanzil Hussain and Prateek Bordoloi from Samaguri and Margherita, sons of Lok Sabha MPs Rakibul Hussain and Pradyut Bordoloi, and Chabua-Lahowal candidate Pranjal Ghatowar, son of ex-Union minister Paban Singh Ghatowar. Teok candidate Pallabi Saikia Gogoi is the daughter-in-law of ex-MLA late Membor Gogoi.