Priyada
Gogoi, the 84-year old mother of farmers’ activist Akhil Gogoi, was seen
walking the lanes of Assam time on a campaign trail in the poll-bound state for
the last ten days, despite several ailments, with a motive to free her son,
reported PTI. Raijor Dol leader Akhil Gogoi was taken into custody in 2019 pertaining to the Citizenship
Amendment Act protests and contesting Assam assembly elections from the
Sivasagar constituency.

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Impressed
by her determination to free her son from jail, noted social activist Medha Patkar
and Sandeep Pandey have also joined her campaign from Wednesday.

Priyada
Gogoi, who hails from Selenghat in neighbouring Jorhat district, has been
camping in Sivasagar district for the last seven days and leading the campaigning
of Raijor Dal, the newly floated political outfit of her son.

“I
am campaigning only for my son. I want to see my son free. I know that only the
people can free my son from jail. Winning this election will be the first step
for him to come out of the caged life,” she told PTI.

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At 84
years, she has many old age related ailments but ‘Maa’, affectionately called
by everyone, has not missed a single day of campaigning, said Raijor Dal
working president Bhasco De Saikia.

“Maa
is very active and inspiring us all. From the morning till evening, she is
visiting every lane and street of Sivasagar and appealing to people to vote for
her son. We are in awe seeing her determination,” he added.

Initially,
she was commuting from her home at Selenghat, but is now staying in Sivasagar
to save time, Saikia said.

Raijor
Dal took out a huge procession of several thousand sympathisers in Sivasagar on
Wednesday, bringing life to a complete standstill in this historic town, in
support of their candidate Akhil Gogoi.

Priyada
Gogoi was leading the procession sitting on an open jeep and appealing to all
bystanders with folded hands to vote for her son.

Joining
her, Patkar said: “Akhil Gogoi is the only strong voice fighting against
corruption in Assam. And we all know how corrupt is BJP and its leader Himanta
Biswa Sarma.” She alleged that the ruling BJP is dividing people on the
basis of religion and caste in the name of doing politics, and warned the
people of Assam and West Bengal to cast their votes keeping in mind that.

Akhil
Gogoi was last year admitted at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) for
COVID-19 treatment and he remains there for other ailments.

The
National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested him in December 2019 for his
alleged role in violent anti- Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests across the
state.

The
Sivasagar constituency, from where Gogoi is contesting, is going for polls in
the first phase on March 27.