Ground Report From Titabor, Assam CM Tarun Gogoi’s Constituency

The Quint travelled to the interiors of Assam CM Tarun Gogoi’s constituency, Titabor, to do a ground reality check. (Photo: The Quint)

Titabor in Jorhat District has chosen the Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi as it’s MLA for the last fifteen years. The signs of the work done by the Assam CM is clearly visible in Titabor town with its metalled roads, and higher secondary schools and colleges.

But The Quint travelled to the interiors of Titabor to do a reality check. The first thing we saw was the road from Dadarali to Bilgaon. Overnight rains had made this road a driver’s nightmare.

Local resident, Suren Saikia, says that this 2.5 km stretch is the symbol of the chief minister’s negligence of his own constituency. A little rain makes it impossible to drive, even walking is difficult as one’s feet get stuck in the mud.

About 2 km down the road at Bilgaon, 26 families use a single tubewell as their only source of drinking water. Local resident Bhoni claims that every time the tubewell breaks down, the villagers have to get it repaired by collecting money from the village. There’s no help from the local government.

According to Bhoni, the biggest problem in Bilgaon is the pathetic condition of the road. Every time there’s a medical emergency in the village, they have to take the patient to the nearest hospital on their own. The roads are so bad that no ambulance can access the village.

The road comes to an abrupt end at a small stream. A rickety bamboo bridge is the only connection to the other side. Manaj Ali, who uses this route every day, says that even the bridge gets submerged during the rainy season.

The villagers say that their MLA, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, has completely ignored this part of his constituency and that this election, they won’t allow any politicians to campaign in their village. They have had enough of broken promises.