Top contests of 2014: Gaurav Gogoi versus Arun Sarmah

Kaliabor (

), April 7: Gaurav Gogoi, son of Assam Chief Minister

, takes on Arun Kumar Sarmah of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Mrinal Saikia of the BJP. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded Jinti Gogoi from this constituency. Jinti came to the headlines recently after the pictures of her swimming across Dayang Sarupathar River while going for campaigning since there is no bridge over the river.

[See: Top contests of 2014]

2009 result: Congress's Dip Gogoi defeated AGP's Gunin Hazirak by 1,51,989 votes.

Kaliabor went to the polls on April 7.

About Gaurav Gogoi (Congress)

Gogoi, 32, did his education in Delhi and the USA and also runs an NGO. He expressed interest to join politics after returning from abroad. He has been fielded from a seat which is known to be a stronghold of the Gogois. Tarun Gogoi was the MP from this seat in 1991, 1998 and 1999 and continued till 2002 when his brother Dip took over.

The Gogois look confident to continue dominating Kaliabor

Dip won the 2004 and 2009 elections from this seat after winning the by-poll in 2002. Gogoi is cricitised for not being a fluent speaker in Assamese but he feels language is no bar if he serves the people. "I stood by the people at the time of Kaliabor floods in 2011," he said in an interview.

About Arun Kumar Sarmah (AGP)

Sarmah, a two-time MP from Lakhimpur constituency, believes that people want a change in Congress rule and has focussed on development issue in Kaliabor. He said that an alliance between the AGP and BJP like that of 2009 would have helped and regretted the lack of an allianc shaping up.

About Mrinal Saikia (BJP)

Mrinal Kumar Saikia had contested from Kaliabor in 1998 but ended third after the Congress and AGP candidates with just 15.3% votes. Saikia recently said that Gaurav Gogoi was doing a big favour to the BJP by repeatedly taking its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's names at his rallies, asking people not to allow Assam become another Gujarat.

Analysis: Even if chips look down for the Congress across the nation, the conclusion at Kaliabor might be too predictable. The Gogois are most likely to continue with their dominance here, thanks more to a divided opposition.

OneIndia News