Parbatjhora constituency was established in 2023 on the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission, tasked with equally distributing voters across all 126 Assembly constituencies of Assam. It quintessentially incorporates the Parbatjhora subdivision and adjoining villages, which were earlier under the Gossaigaon Assembly constituency. The constituency covers the subdivision headquarters town and the surrounding rural belts with a significant number of villages.
Being a new constituency, Parbatjhora has no electoral history, though it voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It witnessed a huge turnout of voters at 89.04 per cent, indicating the enthusiasm and hopes of the voters who often complained in the past about their villages being ignored by authorities and the elected representatives.
Parbatjhora had 174,173 eligible voters on its rolls for the 2026 Assembly elections, registering a growth of 4,687 voters following the SIR 2025. It had 169,486 registered voters in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Karma Borgoyari of the Bodo People’s Front (BPF) led over Joyanta Basumatary of the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) by 9,538 votes in the Parbatjhora Assembly segment. Borgoyari polled 56,840 votes, compared to 47,302 votes cast in favour of Basumatary. Garjan Mushahary of the Congress party polled 34,108 votes and finished third.
Demographics, based on available data, largely from the 2011 Census proportions adjusted for the area and delimitation changes, indicate a substantial presence of Scheduled Tribes, particularly Bodo communities, alongside a sizeable Muslim population and other indigenous as well as non-tribal groups. The large number of Muslim candidates who have filed nominations suggests that Muslims constitute a significant and influential bloc in the electorate, possibly in the range of 25-35 per cent or more in the restructured constituency. The constituency features a mix of Bodo tribal villages, Bengali-speaking Muslim settlers in certain pockets, and agrarian communities typical of the Bodoland region.
The Parbatjhora constituency covers parts of the Kokrajhar district in Lower Assam with flat alluvial plains in the south transitioning to gentle undulations and low hills towards the north near the Bhutan foothills. The terrain supports paddy cultivation, horticulture, and forest-based activities with patches of moist deciduous forests, but is prone to seasonal flooding from rivers like the Gaurang, Champamati, and Saralbhanga. Livelihoods in Parbatjhora depend mainly on agriculture (paddy, vegetables, and Eri silk), small trade, and forest resources. Fertile soils and abundant rainfall sustain these activities. Infrastructure includes road connectivity via state highways linking to nearby areas, but no rail connectivity is available in its vicinity. The nearest railway station is Kokrajhar station, about 35-40 km away. Basic amenities serve the town and villages, with ongoing developments in rural roads and tribal welfare schemes.
The nearest major town is Kokrajhar, the district headquarters and Bodoland Territorial Region headquarters, about 35-45 km away. Other nearby towns include Gossaigaon to the west, roughly 25-30 km away, and Bongaigaon to the east, about 50-60 km away. The state capital, Dispur/Guwahati, lies around 200-220 km east. The constituency lies close to the international border with Bhutan in the north (foothills distance around 20-40 km in parts), influencing occasional trade and interactions. It also borders West Bengal in the west in the broader region.
Despite being located in a predominantly tribal (Bodo-dominated) belt within the Bodoland Territorial Region, Parbatjhora was accorded the status of an unreserved (general) constituency during the 2023 delimitation. This decision was part of the broader exercise to balance population, geographical factors, and community distribution across the reorganised seats in Kokrajhar district, where some seats were reserved, while others like Parbatjhora were kept unreserved to reflect mixed demographics in the carved-out areas.
The contest is expected to be multi-cornered, with BPF (now BJP ally) and UPPL as the main rivals, while Congress and AIUDF try to gain ground. Bereft of any electoral history, the only indication regarding the mood of the Parbatjhora voters could be the voting trend witnessed in this segment in the 2024 parliamentary polls. What might give the BPF an edge is the fact that the UPPL trailed despite being an ally of the state’s ruling BJP-AGP alliance. Political dynamics is expected to have changed at the ground level after the UPPL walked out of the ruling alliance and the BPF promptly replaced it. This would ensure total backing of the BJP and the AGP to the BPF, while anti-incumbency votes might get split, especially the Muslim votes, due to the presence of parties like the Congress and the AIUDF. The 2026 Assembly elections in Parbatjhora constituency, thus, could be trend-setting for the region as a new history would be written.
(Ajay Jha)
