Guwahati Constituency: Women Take Centre Stage In The Gateway To Northeast India
In the political arena of Guwahati, “the Gateway to North East India,” women are taking centre stage as top contenders for major players like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress. Bijuli Kalita Medhi is the BJP nominee in the Lok Sabha elections, while Mira Barthakur Goswami is the candidate for the Congress. In Assam, the Lok Sabha election campaigns are progressing steadily. With the completion of the first two phases, 10 out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats have already completed polling. The remaining four seats, including Guwahati, will go to the polls in the upcoming third phase, scheduled for May 7.
Since the first post-emergency election in 1977, the Guwahati Lok Sabha seat has seen representation by three women. In the upcoming elections, women emerge as major contenders. Traditionally, the BJP and the Congress dominate this seat, with the BJP winning it four times and the Congress five times. However, since 2009, the BJP has maintained a stronghold in Guwahati.
Congress nominee Mira Barthakur Goswami is a former BJP leader, businesswoman, and also the President of Mahila Congress Assam, aiming to make history as the first woman from Congress to represent this urban centre in the Northeast. The BJP has fielded Bijuli Kalita Medhi, a teacher turned politician and Vice President of BJP Assam. Other candidates in the fray include Samad Choudhury of Bharatiya Gana Parishad (BGP), Shejon Goyary of Bahujan Maha Party, Amitabh Sharma of Ekam Sanatan Bharat Dal, Dipak Kumar Boro of Voters Party International, independent candidate Kazi Nekib Ahmed, and Colonel Gokul Chandra Singha.
Guwahati, the largest city in Northeast India, serves as a major economic hub and a crucial river port, making it Assam”s principal commercial centre. Established in 1951 during India’s inaugural general elections, the Guwahati constituency is a general category seat that includes parts of Goalpara, Kamrup, and Nalbari districts, as well as the entire Kamrup Metropolitan District. The constituency comprises 10 assembly seats: Dudhnai (ST), Boko (ST), Chaygaon, Palasbari, Jalukbari, Dispur, Guwahati East, Guwahati West, Hajo, and Barkhetri. Guwahati exhibits rich linguistic diversity, with Assamese serving as the predominant language, comprising 57.80% of the population as of 2011. Other prominent languages spoken include Bengali, Hindi, Nepali, Boro, Manipuri, and Bhojpuri. Guwahati”s Returning Officer, Sumit Sattawan, reported that the constituency has more women voters than men. “We have 20,19,444 voters—9,93,268 men, 10,26,118 women, and 58 third gender,” he added.
In Assam, the BJP is set to contest 11 Lok Sabha seats, leaving three for the Assam Gana Parishad (AGP). The BJP believes it can secure a majority of the 14 seats, bolstered by its ruling status in the state. It anticipates garnering support from the Muslim community, with Maulanas urging Assam Muslims to vote for the BJP and allies, criticising the AIUDF”s religious politics. Muslims comprise over 30% of the constituency. Additionally, Jamaat Ulama-E Hind has endorsed BJP candidates in several constituencies, praising Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for developmental efforts in the state. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has expressed confidence in winning the Guwahati seat by over a 5 lakh vote margin. The BJP”s election campaign is centered around Modi”s development agenda.
AAP is extending support to Congress in the Lok Sabha, aligning their campaign against issues such as unemployment, corruption, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and land- legislation. The constituency has garnered attention with the introduction of the country”s first 3D dummy ballot units aimed at educating voters in the Assam district. It was developed by a team led by Ajeet Kumar, an assistant professor at the Department of Design at IIT Guwahati.
(This story is part of a Timeline. internship project.)
