Rival Assam candidates drink tea and pray together before election

Sarbananda Sonowal and Lurinjyoti Gogoi were seen together in Haldibari Naghar Than in Khowang

New Delhi:

Assam’s rival Lok Sabha candidates, Sarbananda Sonowal of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Lurin Jyoti Gogoi of the Bloc India, had tea together on Sunday and sought blessings.

Sonowal and Gogoi were seen together at the Haldibari Naghar Than place of worship in Khovan.

During their unexpected encounter, they also shook hands and sat together on a mattress on the floor.

BJP heavyweight candidate and Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Assam Janata Party (AJP) chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi are in Dibrugarh Competition for Lok Sabha seats.

All of them have served as presidents of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the oldest student organization in Assam. Mr Sonowal led AASU’s opposition to the Illegal Immigration (Court Decisions) Act (which was later repealed), while Mr Gogoi led student groups in the 2019 anti-CAA protests.

“I send my best wishes to Lurin Jyoti Gogoi. This is a democracy and we are here to strengthen democracy. This is a good thing in democracy,” Mr Sonowal told reporters.

Mr Gogoi also told reporters: “We were in AASU together and he was our senior. Now our ideologies are different. We were against CAA and he supported it.”

The first phase of polling for Dibrugarh constituency will be held on April 19.