Guwahati, March 3 Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi thanked party leaders on Tuesday for their faith in him by giving him the ticket for the Jorhat assembly constituency for the upcoming state assembly elections.
Gogoi, a three-time MP and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, will make his first electoral foray in the state's assembly elections and is being projected as the opposition's chief ministerial candidate.
"I am grateful to Congress President Shri @kharge ji, CPP Chairperson Smt Sonia Gandhi ji, LOP Shri @RahulGandhi ji, Chairperson @priyankagandhi ji, GSO @kcvenugopalmp ji, and GS @JitendraSAlwar ji, members of the CEC, for their continued guidance and belief in my abilities," Gogoi said in a post on X.
He said he was grateful to the people of the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat, without whom he would not have reached this position.
"I am thankful to my late father, Tarun Gogoi, who taught me what it means to be an Assamese and a Congressman," he said.
"I am also thankful to my family, my mother, sister, wife, and two young children, who have endured a lot but always with grace, joy, and dignity," the Jorhat MP said.
He said the time has come to take Assam towards a "new and bold direction".
"Let us dream once again of a #NatunBorAxom (New Greater Assam). #SamayParivartanor (time for change)," Gogoi added.
The opposition Congress took the lead on Tuesday in announcing its first list of 42 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Assam, which includes both sitting MLAs and former ministers, as well as new faces, including the sons of three prominent politicians.
Gogoi will contest from the prestigious Jorhat assembly constituency, currently held by BJP's Hitendra Nath Goswami.
Gogoi is currently the party MP from the Jorhat parliamentary constituency and previously represented Kaliabor twice before it was reconstituted during the delimitation exercise in the state.
The Congress is a leading part of the unified opposition alliance, 'Asom Sonmilito Morcha', formed to challenge the ruling BJP, and has entered into seat-sharing arrangements with the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and the Left, but is yet to finalize it with Raijor Dal.
Elections to the 126-member Assam Assembly are likely to be held in April.
