Dibrugarh: The Dibrugarh assembly constituency is set for a triangular contest as the upcoming election pits incumbent BJP MLA and power minister Prasanta Phukan against two political novices — Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP)’s Mainak Patra and Vikas India Party candidate Kamal Hazarika. With only three nominations for the prestigious seat, the main battle is expected to be between BJP and AJP, even as Phukan eyes an unprecedented fifth consecutive victory from a constituency that was once an unassailable Congress bastion.The story of BJP’s rise in Dibrugarh is one of the most remarkable political journeys in Assam’s electoral history. When the party first dared to contest from this seat in 1985, its candidate Lalit Chandra Bordoloi managed to secure a mere 260 votes — a humbling performance that could have deterred lesser political outfits from ever returning. Few could have imagined then that the same party would go on to transform Dibrugarh into one of its most impregnable fortresses in the state.
“Dibrugarh was Congress territory for decades, and for BJP to win here was once considered nearly impossible. What Phukan has done here is nothing short of a political revolution,” said Mihir Goswami, a senior political observer.Out of 11 elections held in Dibrugarh since 1972, Congress has won six times, BJP four, and Janata Party once. The seat’s history is also intertwined with one of Assam’s most distinguished political families — Keshab Chandra Gogoi, father of former Chief Justice of India and ex-Rajya Sabha MP Ranjan Gogoi, won from here thrice as a Congress candidate and once as a Janata Party candidate and briefly served as chief minister of Assam from January to March 1982.The transformation began in 2006 when Phukan scripted history by becoming the first BJP candidate to win from Dibrugarh, defeating sitting Congress MLA Dr Kalyan Kumar Gogoi by a razor-thin margin of just 175 votes — 28,424 votes against Gogoi’s 28,249. From that precarious start, Phukan has systematically built a electoral juggernaut. In 2011, he defeated Dr Gogoi again, this time by 19,609 votes. By 2016, his winning margin had ballooned to 27,374 votes, and in 2021, he registered his most commanding victory yet — a staggering margin of 38,005 votes over Congress candidate Rajkumar Nilanetra Neog.With two greenhorn opponents this time, Phukan is widely expected to cruise to a record fifth term. However, his campaign is not entirely without headwinds. “The people of Dibrugarh have waited too long for basic solutions. Waterlogging, Brahmaputra erosion, the crumbling Dibrugarh Town Protection (DTP) Drain — these are not new problems, but they remain unsolved even after 20 years,” said Ranjan Bordoloi, a local.Critics have also pointed to poor street lighting across a city projected as Assam’s second capital — an irony not lost on residents, given that Phukan serves as the state’s power minister.Despite these concerns, with no visible anti-incumbency wave and the opposition fielding inexperienced candidates, Phukan remains the overwhelming favourite to add another chapter to Dibrugarh’s rapidly rewriting political story — one that began with 260 votes and may now culminate in history.
