Congress jailed me 20 times, says its ally Akhil Gogoi in Assam

Guwahati : Akhil Gogoi, an Independent MLA from Assam’s Sivasagar Assembly segment and chief of the Raijor Dal, took a jibe at his ally Congress on Monday while speaking about the possibility of a united opposition forum to take on the BJP in the Assembly elections scheduled in 2026.

Gogoi’s party is a constituent of the united opposition forum formed before the Lok Sabha polls in Assam. The forum is led by the Congress with at least 15 parties as its part.

The Raijor Dal leader was initially keen to contest the general elections from Jorhat; however, the Congress later retained the seat with two-time MP Gaurav Gogoi as its nominee.

Akhil Gogoi also campaigned for Gaurav Gogoi in Jorhat. But as the polls are over in the state now, a sense of discord was found in his remarks.

The Sivasagar MLA told reporters here, “I have been imprisoned 36 times in my life. The Congress sent me to jail 20 times, while the rest 16 times I was put behind bars by the BJP. Therefore, nobody should think that my party will merge with the Congress.”

However, Gogoi also mentioned that ousting the BJP from power tops his agenda, and he would be part of any united alliance to fight against the ruling party.

“In 2026, we shall unitedly fight against the BJP and defeat them. Once the MLAs are elected, a decision on who will be the Chief Minister can be taken,” he said.

In the recently concluded LS polls in Assam, Akhil Gogoi’s party was not given any ticket by the United Opposition Forum led by the Congress. But Gogoi has hinted that his party holds a good support base among the voters, and the Raijor Dal must be given a handful of seats in the 2026 Assembly polls.