Lok Sabha Election Results 2024: Gaurav Gogoi Wrests Jorhat From BJP By Margin Of Over 1.44 Lakh Votes

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi's win was nothing short of a miracle as he took on the entire might of the ruling dispensation at the prestigious Jorhat Lok Sabha seat of Assam.

With Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma spending several nights and many of his ministers, MLAs and other leaders camping for weeks at the constituency, the contest between Gaurav and BJP's Topon Kumar Gogoi looked similar to that of Abhimanyu's epic battle in Mahabharata.

Gaurav Gogoi snatched Jorhat seat from the ruling BJP by defeating Topon Kumar Gogoi with a margin of 1,44,393 votes, according to the Election Commission.

Topon Kumar Gogoi was looking to win the election for the second consecutive term, while Gaurav was a two-time sitting MP from Kaliabor constituency, which was rechristened as Kaziranga in delimitation.

Following delimitation, Gaurav, the Deputy Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, was assigned the task of taking on the BJP in Jorhat, which became a stronghold of the ruling party over the last 10 years.

No BJP national figure came to campaign in Jorhat, while Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra led a massive roadshow at Titabor, the assembly constituency of Gaurav's father and former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi.

The entire campaign for Topon Gogoi was led by CM Sarma, who addressed multiple meetings and held several roadshows covering all the 10 assembly constituencies under Jorhat Lok Sabha seat.

"I am like the Abhimanyu, who entered the Chakravyuha and died. But in this battle, I will break the Chakravyuha and come out victorious," Gaurav had said before voting took place in Jorhat on April 19.

Jorhat has 17,32,944 electors, of which 8,78,356 are women, 8,54,583 men and 5 third gender.

Although Gaurav has always been vocal against the BJP government inside and outside the House, he shot to limelight after initiating the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government in August last year. His speech became an instant hit, especially among the youths.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP's Gogoi had won by a margin of 82,653 votes by receiving 5,43,288 votes against 4,60,635 of Congress' Sushanta Borgohain, who subsequently joined the saffron party.

The 41-year-old Gaurav tasted the flavour of electoral democracy for the first time in 2014 when he contested for the Lok Sabha when his father was the CM of Assam. He won and was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha from Kaliabor.

Considered as a confidante of Rahul Gandhi, Mr Gogoi became member of several House committees such as Standing Committee on Railways, Consultative Committee of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and Committee on Violation of Protocol Norms and Contemptuous Behaviour of Government Officers with Members of Lok Sabha.

Gaurav was re-elected to the Lower House for the second consecutive term from Kaliabor in 2019. This time, he was nominated to be a member of the Standing Committee on Finance, Committee on Government Assurances and Consultative Committee of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region in Lok Sabha.

A B.Tech. in electrical engineering and MA in Public Administration, the Congress leader is married to Elizabeth Gogoi and they have a son. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)