High-profile battle looms in Dispur as parties eye crucial seat

Guwahati, Mar 23: The prestigious Dispur Legislative Assembly Constituency (LAC) is expected to witness an interesting electoral battle in the April 9 elections.

Of the five seats in the Kamrup Metro district, the No. 33 Dispur LAC has the highest number of electors. As per the final electoral roll published, the Dispur LAC has a total of 2,43,176 general electors. Of them, 1,17,027 are male, 1,26,137 are female, and 12 belong to the third gender category. There are 272 polling stations in the Dispur LAC.

After delimitation, the Dispur LAC has become compact and more urban-centric. A large chunk of the old No. 52 Dispur LAC, especially the rural areas, was hived off to form the newly constituted Dimoria (SC) constituency during the exercise.

Post delimitation, the restructured Dispur LAC comprises 13 wards of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC).

The old Dispur constituency first came into existence in the 1978 Assembly elections. Tarini Mohan Barua of the Janata Party got elected from the seat that year. Barua was re-elected in the 1983 Assembly polls but by that time he had changed parties and contested as a Congress candidate.

In the 1985 elections, following the Assam Accord, Atul Bora of the AGP won the seat. However, all the AGP nominees had contested as Independents in 1985. Atul Bora retained the constituency in the 1991 and 1996 elections as well. In 2001, Robin Bordoloi of the Congress wrested the seat from Atul Bora. Congress candidate Akon Bora won from Dispur in the Assembly polls of 2006 and 2011. However, in 2016, Atul Bora, having switched over to the BJP, reclaimed his old seat. He was able to retain the constituency in the 2021 Assembly polls as well.

But the ruling party denied candidacy to the five-time legislator this time. BJP sprang a surprise by nominating veteran Congress leader and MP from Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency Pradyut Bordoloi for the seat.

The Congress party, meanwhile, has nominated senior leader Mira Borthakur Goswami for the high-profile constituency. She was earlier associated with the BJP for a long time, before joining the Congress party in 2021.

Even though the main contest in Dispur is expected to be between Bordoloi and Borthakur Goswami, things could get complicated following the rebellion by Jayanta Kumar Das, a long-time BJP member. He was a strong contender for the seat and quit the party following denial of ticket. Das could file his nomination as an Independent on Monday, and that could upset a lot of calculations.

Like any urban constituency, the Dispur LAC also faces various civic problems related to unplanned and haphazard growth, inadequate municipal water supply, artificial floods, bad roads, irregular garbage collection, traffic congestion, poor drainage, air pollution, and so on.

Speaking separately with The Assam Tribune, the candidates of both the BJP and the Congress said they are aware of the challenges and are fully prepared to tackle those if elected by the voters.

“I will consider myself very fortunate if the voters of the constituency give me the opportunity to represent them,” Bordoloi said.

He added, “Building on my experience, I will develop a futuristic vision. I will work together with the Chief Minister. I have already drawn up a programme. And my major focus will be on civic issues.”

On the other hand, Borthakur Goswami said she has been visiting every nook and corner of the Dispur LAC and meeting the local people for the last six months.

“I am confident that I will be 100 percent victorious. I have been moving across the constituency for six months,” she said.

The Congress nominee said she will continue to rely on small corner meetings and door-to-door visits, instead of holding big public rallies.