Dibrugarh: Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) president and state agriculture minister Atul Bora is set for one of the more intriguing contests of the Assam assembly elections as he bids for an unprecedented third consecutive victory from the Bokakhat assembly constituency — a seat he has held with commanding margins over the past decade. However, a clutch of familiar faces returning to the fray promises to make this hat-trick bid more closely watched than it might appear on paper.The 65-year-old Bora faces five other candidates this time — Hari Prasad Saikia of Raijor Dal, Bibekananda Rajowar of Gondvana Ganatantra Party, and three Independent candidates: Jiten Gogoi, Pranab Doley, and Hemanta Doloi. Of these, Gogoi and Doley are familiar names in Bokakhat — both having contested against Bora in 2021.Bora’s electoral dominance in recent cycles has been near-absolute. In 2021, contesting under AGP banner as part of NDA alliance with BJP, he defeated Independent candidate Pranab Doley by a staggering margin of 45,181 votes, polling 72,390 votes against Doley’s 27,749. His 2016 win was equally emphatic — defeating Congress candidate Arun Phukan by 40,193 votes, with Bora securing 62,962 votes against Phukan’s 22,769.“The people of Bokakhat have given me their trust twice, and I have tried to honour that trust through my work. I seek their blessings once more to continue what we have started,” Bora said.However, Bokakhat’s political history cautions against complacency. Bora himself was not always a dominant figure here — in 2011, he finished a distant third behind Congress winner Arun Phukan and Independent candidate Jiten Gogoi.Jiten Gogoi’s presence adds a particularly colourful dimension to the contest. A former Ulfa leader turned politician, Gogoi won Bokakhat twice as an Independent — in 2001 and 2006 — establishing himself as a genuine grassroots force. Though his 2021 outing was disappointing, yielding only 5,550 votes and a third-place finish, his decision to return to the ring signals continued ambition in a seat he once held.Pranab Doley, who gave Bora his stiffest competition in 2021 as runner-up, is also back as an Independent. His ability to secure over 27,000 votes last time makes him the most credible challenger in the current field.Historically, Bokakhat has been a genuinely competitive seat. Of the 10 assembly elections held here since 1978, Congress has won five times, AGP three times, and Independent candidates twice — both victories belonging to Gogoi in 2001 and 2006.On the ground, voters in Bokakhat carry two persistent and pressing grievances — recurring floods and erosion that devastate farmland and settlements every monsoon, and a road infrastructure that remains inadequate for a constituency of its size and economic significance.“Flood and erosion have troubled us for years. Roads are another issue. We want to see real, lasting solutions — not seasonal attention that disappears after elections,” said Uttam Saikia, a voter from the constituency.As polling day approaches, the central question is whether Atul Bora’s ministerial record, organisational strength, and his alliance’s incumbency advantage will be enough to complete the hat-trick — or whether the combined weight of independent voices and local grievances will narrow what has been, in recent elections, a very comfortable gap.
