Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, who fought and won a remarkable battle in Jorhat in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, has said his duty towards Assam is only half done and his immediate priority is to strengthen the party in the state for the 2026 assembly elections.
He also said that it was the responsibility of the Congress, not only in Assam but across India, to remove the "feeling of threat, insecurity, intimidation, oppression or suffocation prevailing now".
"We want the people of India to live freely, follow any religion, support any party and political ideology of their choice and create a sense of freedom. I have already made up my mind that irrespective of the results in Jorhat, even if it is a victory, there are many people in Assam feel that there is an atmosphere of fear and my job is to make them free from fear," Gogoi told PTI editors in an interaction at the news agency's headquarters.
Asked whether he was ready for a leadership role in Assam, the three-time Lok Sabha member said he was not asking for any position or role from the Congress leadership but time so that he can spend more time in Assam to strengthen the party and win the state assembly elections.
"My immediate priority will be to strengthen the Congress in Assam. I said my election is not over. My duty is half finished. My duty to my party is not to just win the seat of Jorhat but to win the state of Assam. And as I said, like in Jorhat, it was a people's campaign, it was a people's victory and that is going to be in 2026 (assembly polls)," he said.
Election to the 126-member Assam assembly is due in early 2026.
"I am looking for spending more time in Assam to strengthen the party. Because we have elections in two years from now. I think it is necessary that we look at the states going to election this year, in 2025, in 2026 and do the necessary work for laying necessary ground or preparing right from this year itself," Gogoi said.
He said the Congress will take a decision about his future at an appropriate time, not before, not after and let him know at the appropriate time after deliberations.
"As far as my future is concerned, I will wait for the party to take a decision and abide by the party," he said.
Asked whether he will accept the offer of chief ministership if the Congress forms the government in Assam after the next assembly polls, the 41-year-old parliamentarian said whatever he desired he never got and whatever he got, he had never thought of.
"I never thought that I would be the deputy leader (of Congress in Lok Sabha). I never thought of being AICC in-charge of a state like West Bengal so early. And I never thought that I would lead the debate of no confidence motion against the Modi government (in August 2023). So, in my experience it is better not to think too much. So I am not thinking of myself. I am only thinking of my state, people of my state and the country," he said.
Gogoi also said important elections will be held this year in Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Haryana and early next year in Delhi.
"In 2026 we have elections in states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam etc. So it is necessary for all of us to take the momentum, the positivity that has generated and take that across the country and be mindful of the states going for the elections," he said.