Gogoi comfortably placed in Titabor

Titabor: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has a clear edge over all his 11 opponents in Titabor Assembly constituency which goes to polls on April 4.

"The Chief Minister's win is a foregone conclusion, but now we are striving hard to ensure that he wins by a record margin of votes and creates electoral history not only in the state but also in the country," Titabor block Congress president Sonadhar Rajkhowa said.

The Chief Minister, who had a minor operation in New Delhi last week, is yet to hit the campaign trail, but his supporters are confident he would ride the poll solely on the basis of development work he had initiated in this once-backward constituency.

Another party worker Ghana Hazarika points out that the real contest is for the second spot which is expected to be a triangular one between AGP's Montumoni Dutta, CPI's Kula Das and BJP's Kaminish Deori.

A traditional Congress bastion, Titabor, which is in the Jorhat Lok Sabha constituency, has been represented by Gogoi since 2001 after he was elected in a by-election following the party's wresting of power from the Asom Gana Parishad.

In 2001 Assembly polls, the seat was won by his brother Dip Gogoi who later vacated it for the elder Gogoi, who, then a Lok Sabha MP from Kaliabor parliamentary constituency, had led the party to a thumping win in the Assembly polls as the state unit Congress president.

In 2006, the Chief Minister had polled 65.15 per cent of the total votes and had won by 32,501 votes over his CPI opponent Kula Das.

The high-profile constituency has witnessed a remarkable development spree during the last 10 years with water supply schemes, metalled roads, market places, a public library and a sports complex being the prominent initiatives taken to make it a model Assembly segment.

Gogoi has assured the people of his constituency that in his next term he would give priority to industrialisation and take the initiative of setting up an engineering college there.

Titabor, with a high literacy rate of 81.8 per cent, is also the headquarters of the Thengal Kachari Autonomous Council which is headed by the Congress and this sizeable Scheduled Tribe community would definitely lend a helping hand in Gogoi's possible victory.

The constituency with 35 tea gardens and a predominantly tea tribe population has been a traditional Congress vote bank and Gogoi is sure to bag the votes of them along with those of the Chutia community.

AGP candidate Montumoni Dutta, however, points out that the charges of corruption, price rise and anti-incumbency factor would definitely work against the Chief Minister.

"The Congress should not be complacent as there are several factors working against the chief minister and the people are ready to vote for a change," the retired vice principal of a local college said.

The position of CPI candidate Kula Das, who came second in the last polls, is unsure this time with competition coming in from both AGP and BJP's Kaminish Deori.

Das, however, appeared optimistic and alleged that the Congress had done nothing for the people at the grassroot level, particularly the tea garden labourers whose living conditions, health and educational facilities were minimal.

"The tea garden electorate will vote for me as they are very disappointed with the Congress and particularly with the Chief Minister for not doing anything for the welfare of the community," he said.

Besides, AGP's Dutta and CPI's Das, the other candidates in the fray are: Kaminish Deori of BJP, Manashi Bordoloi of NCP, Subodh Dutta of Asom United Democratic Front (AUDF), Biren Gogoi of Trinamool Congress and independent Dilip Gogoi who are not likely to make much impact in the electoral battle.