Guwahati: Congress ally, Raijor Dal president and sitting MLA Akhil Gogoi, has declared 21 pending criminal cases against him in his election affidavit for the Sibasagar seat, including allegations of criminal conspiracy, inciting violence, abetment of waging war, terrorist act, rioting, criminal trespass and defamation.Importantly, the 51-year-old leader has not been convicted in any of the cases.Gogoi, an RTI and peasants’ activist-turned-legislator, had won the Sibasagar assembly seat in 2021 while lodged in jail, in a victory that drew comparisons with George Fernandes’s 1977 Lok Sabha win from prison.Few political journeys in Assam have been as dramatic as Gogoi’s. An RTI and peasants’ activist turned legislator, he carved history in 2021 by winning the Sibasagar assembly seat while lodged in jail, a defiant victory that drew parallels with George Fernandes’s legendary 1977 Lok Sabha win from prison.Fernandes was arrested and tried while the Emergency was still in force in the Baroda dynamite case. When the Emergency was lifted in early 1977, he contested the Muzaffarpur Lok Sabha seat in Bihar from jail. His campaign was run largely by his family.On similar lines, Akhil was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Dec 2019 for alleged involvement in violent anti-CAA protests and jailed. Unable to campaign himself, Gogoi’s election in 2021 became a story of resilience and symbolism. His octogenarian mother took charge of his campaign, moving from village to village to rally support for her son.The image of an elderly woman canvassing tirelessly for her jailed son struck a chord with voters and underscored the grassroots strength of Gogoi’s movement.Gogoi has declared movable assets worth Rs 1.75 lakh in his election affidavit, with no liabilities in the form of govt dues or loans from banks or financial institutions. He has, however, taken a Rs 50,000 loan from his wife, Gitashree Tamuly. Gogoi also reported Rs 1.30 lakh cash in hand, bank deposits of about Rs 35,000, and shares worth Rs 10,000 in the Kaziranga Jatiyo Orchid Aru Jooiba Boichitra Udyan Samabai Samiti Ltd.
