Exactly 15 years ago, I took my first sleeper train and left Assam. As I tried to settle into my bunk bed in a dormitory and blueline buses in the unfamiliar city without the sign of a seat in any Delhi University college, I found refuge in a canteen that sold the only kind of food that my limited palate was exposed to so far. Over the next many years, we knew the owner of the place as a dada, an Assamese equivalent of bhayya, who provided food and guardianship in a difficult city the contours of which you were only beginning to figure out.
Today, as I wait for my turn to vote later next month as a Delhi resident, Prabhat dada is guiding and advising another set of youngsters – not here but in Assam. As five constituencies in the state go to polls on Friday, April 19 he is encouraging youths in Jorhat to vote for Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi. “I am part of no political organisation. But I am openly asking people to vote for Gaurav Gogoi,” he says on the phone.
Indeed, whether he wins or not, one thing that Gogoi, the deputy leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha, can claim to achieve is this support from self-confessedly ‘apolitical’ people. On social media and in everyday conversations, people shying away from supporting a political side have expressed their opinions on why they think he should be sent to the Parliament by the people of Jorhat.
“To me, the answer to this question is very straightforward. We were never supporters of Congress in the past and nor are we now. Many others hold a similar view. What attracts us about Gaurav Gogoi is the quality of his thought, his personality, his eligible inheritance of his father’s (Tarun Gogoi) clean image, simple and engrossing forthrightness, his way of speaking and detailed study of the matter at hand,” said Daisy Talukdar, a conscious citizen who I spoke to after she endorsed the leader on social media, ruing how Assam does not ‘trust’ any other Congress politician at the moment.
Assam chief minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma also recently claimed, “This time, if I can bring all Congress candidates except one to the BJP, then what will be the benefit of voting for Congress? This is the credit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the sun, and we are the moon.” The one who Sarma admits he will not be able to bring to BJP is thought to be none other than Gogoi.
Along with much of India, the people of Assam also took a more serious look at the MP after he introduced the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi-led government in August last year. In his fiery speech, Gogoi had, among other issues, focussed on Manipur and questioned the prime minister’s silence. He had also invoked Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ‘raj dharma’ remark made during the 2002 Gujarat riots. People in the state appreciate it if their representative to Delhi can speak in Hindi and/or English.
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I have grown up hearing stories about Hem Barua’s erudition and oratory, and how they immensely benefited the state. Talukdar says this about Gogoi’s oratory skills, “Because he is extremely proficient in both Hindi and English, he can raise Assam’s issues strongly in the Parliament and has already been playing an active role. Eloquence, fitness, formal education – he is a bright personality in every aspect… As time changes, the possibility of Assam getting a prime minister from the land at some point in the future cannot be denied.”
Responding to the allegation that Gaurav Gogoi’s Assamese is not exactly advanced, Prabhat dada adds, “Many say that Gaurav Gogoi does not speak great Assamese… But is it important that he speaks correct Assamese? He is comfortable in English and Hindi, and the entire nation recognises him. It does not matter which constituency he is fighting from. What matters is that he must win.”
In Assam, it is after a long time that the youth is finding an icon in a mainstream electoral political party. “It looks like the youth can see in Gaurav Gogoi’s statements a reflection of their own thoughts regarding their country. As of today, the most popular politician among the community of apolitical educated youth is Gaurav Gogoi,” Talukdar observes.
Surely, Gogoi is doing something right that other opposition leaders would do well to heed and, probably, emulate.
“Will he win, though?”, I ask Prabhat dada. “Jodi EVM khelimeli nohoy, 70% confirm (If EVMs are not tampered with, he has 70% chances),” he responds, before hanging up, “Hobo de, pisot phone korim. Customer aahise mor (Alright then, I will call you later. I have to attend to a customer now).”
I have no intention to come between the customer and the food their restaurateur would serve. Because I know that in the spread, there will be some food meant for thought as well.
Jyotirmoy Talukdar is a senior writing fellow at the Centre for Writing and Communication, Ashoka University.
