E-Paper
KALIABOR
The political base of the current Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for decades, Kaliabor Parliamentary constituency is one of the most prestigious seats in the northeast.
The political base of the current Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for decades, Kaliabor Parliamentary constituency is one of the most prestigious seats in the northeast.
The constituency where AGP and Muslims weild substantial influence, Kaliabor has been won by Tarun Gogoi for as many as six times. However, he was also defeated twice -- in 1985 and 1996, both times by Asom Gana Parishad.
Tarun Gogoi vacated the seat in 1999 on being elected to state assembly from Titabor to take over as Chief Minister, but ensured that the parliamentary seat remained within his family's dominion. Thus his brother Deep Gogoi won the seat by more than 1,45,000 votes over his nearest rival BJP's Thogi Gogoi in 2002 bypoll.
Tarun Gogoi had retained the seat in 1999, defeating his old rival Keshab Mahanta of AGP by a massive margin of 167392 votes in an 8-cornered contest. He had trounced Mahanta by 23,2,345 votes in 1998.
However, Keshab Mahanta had emerged luckier than the sitting Member of Parliament Tarun Gogoi in 1996 when he scraped through by a margin of just 1,616 votes. Gogoi had defeated Debeswar Bora of AGP by 12,4,719 votes in 1991.
The politically sensitive Kaliabor constituency had been once the citadel of AGP.
Thirty-five per cent of the constituency's more than 11.50 lakh voters are Muslims who play crucial role in any elections. The tea labourers also have a sizeable presence in the constituency and are generally known as AGP supporters.
