Akhil Gogoi to contest Assembly elections in Assam from inside jail if not granted bail

Anti-CAA activist in Assam, Akhil Gogoi, who is facing sedition charge, will contest Assembly elections from within judicial custody, if he is not granted bail by the Supreme Court, Raijor Dal, the regional party Gogoi heads announced on Sunday.

The party also announced that it would contest the elections together with Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), another regional political party, which also came into being recently out of the anti-CAA agitation in December 2019.

Assembly elections in Assam are slated in April-May.

Akhil, who has been vocal against the BJP, is in judicial custody since he was arrested during the anti-CAA agitation in December 2019. Akhil has been accused of having links with CPI (Maoists) and his bail application was rejected by Gauhati High court recently. Gogoi will soon file his bail application in the Supreme Court.

Working president of Raijor Dal, Bhasco De Saikia told reporters in Guwahati that Akhil is likely to contest elections from two constituencies, Sivasagar and Teok in upper Assam, from where Akhil launched Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti in 2005. "People and organisations in Sivasagar want Akhil to contest elections from Sivasagar and Teok. We will take the official decision in this regard soon," Saikia said.

Saikia also said the party made an official proposal to AJP led by former general secretary of All Assam Students Union, Lurinjyoti Gogoi to contest the elections together. "All secular regional forces must join hands in order to defeat the communal forces like BJP and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). So we have decided to join hands with AJP as people in Assam want defeat of the BJP and its allies for their policies including the CAA. BJP will destroy the culture, identity and language of Assamese people by giving citizenship to a large number of post-1971 Hindu migrants," Saikia said. He, however, denied the possibility of an alliance with Congress and AIUDF, calling both communal.

Reacting to Saikia's proposal, Lurinjyoti Gogoi said AJP also decided to forge an alliance with Raijor Dal and would soon work out the details for contesting the elections together.