Rival Assam Candidates Have Tea, Seek Blessings Together Ahead Of Elections

Rival Lok Sabha candidates in Assam, BJP's Sarbananda Sonowal, and INDIA bloc's Lurinjyoti Gogoi, were seen having tea and seeking blessings together on Sunday.

Mr Sonowal and Mr Gogoi were seen together at the Haldibari Naghar Than, a place of worship, in Khowang.

During their surprise encounter, they also shook hands and sat together on a mattress on the floor.

Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, a heavyweight BJP candidate, and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) president Lurinjyoti Gogoi are contesting against each other from the Dibrugarh Lok Sabha seat.

They both have also been the president of the All Assam Students Union (AASU), the state's oldest student body. While Mr Sonowal had led AASU's fight against the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, which later got scrapped, Mr Gogoi had led the student group in the 2019 anti-CAA protests.

"I have given best wishes to Lurinjyoti Gogoi. It is a democracy and we are here to strengthen the democracy. It is a good thing in democracy," Mr Sonowal told reporters.

Mr Gogoi also spoke to reporters and said, "We were together in the AASU and he was our senior. Now our ideologies are different. We are against the CAA and he supports it."

Voting in Dibrugarh constituency will take place in the first phase on April 19.