Naharkatia is one of the 126 assembly constituencies of Assam. Currently, the Naharkatia constituency is under the AGP-BJP alliance. The MLA representing the constituency is AGP’s Naren Sonowal.
The seat was with Congress for nearly two decades till 2016. Pranati Phukan of Congress won four consecutive terms from Naharkatia and lost the 2016 assembly elections by a narrow margin of 3000 votes. Congress has a strong vote base in the constituency.
In the upcoming elections, things look difficult for the NDA as BJP wants their candidate in that seat while alliance partner AGP is not ready to give up the constituency.
The ticket aspirants from BJP are- Taranga Gogoi and Ranjit Baruah. Taranga Gogoi was previously a congressman and joined the BJP in 2015 along with Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Gogoi is considered to be in Sarma’s lobby. While Ranjit Baruah who is working in the field for BJP for a long time is considered to be in the lobby of CM Sarbananda Sonowal.
The problem BJP is facing in distributing tickets is that both leaders have a strong vote base and it’s not easy to ignore anyone of them. The BJP fear that if one of them fails to get the ticket it may result in internal rifts within the party which will affect NDA in retaining the seat.
Moreover, the current MLA Naren Sonowal can prove to be another problem for the ruling party as Sonowal is not ready to give up his seat and is ready to contest even if BJP puts a candidate in the seat. This might prove to be disastrous for the BJP as it may help Congress win the constituency.
In addition, both Himanta Biswa Sarma and Sarbanada Sonowal will try to give tickets to their respective candidates. So, in order to win the seat Naren Sonowal may get the ticket once again.
Meanwhile, talks are going on in the political arena that Lurinjyoti Gogoi might contest from Naharkatia along with Duliajan.
MLA Naren Sonowal in a telephonic conversation with Headline8 informed that he is not willing to give up his seat at any cost.
As we know Naharkatia is the base of regionalism and if Lurinjyoti chooses to contest from the seat against AGP and Congress the votes of regional parties may get divided which would eventually benefit the congress.
In case if only BJP contests against INC and AJP, then anti-CAA votes may get divided and BJP may go through.
The main question is- Who will be NDA’s candidate?
AGP’s Naren Sonowal the present MLA may get the ticket from Naharkatia if BJP decides not to contest from the seat. But a lot will depend on the report card of the MLA. If the report card is not found to be impressive then does AGP has any other candidates for the seat?
If only BJP contests from the constituency Taranga Gogoi has the upper hand because he is considered very close to Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Now, as Congress has hinted that they will not field candidates against Lurinjyoti and Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi, a direct clash between Lurinjyoti and Taranga will be a close contest.
Meanwhile, in case Lurinjyoti versus Naren Sonowal clash happens, then the former will have a good chance of winning the seat.
A politically concerned person Haren Das of Naharkatia spoke to Headline8 and presented his point of view, “Since BJP is divided into many lobbies and AGP is not ready to give up its seat Congress may come out as the winner from Naharkatia.”
In addition, Das added, “Development of Naharkatia is not up to and people are dissatisfied with the current MLA and most people want a BJP candidate from Naharkatia.”
