Guwahati: Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi issued a final warning to the Assam government on Wednesday. He demanded immediate relief for families hit by the July 19 floods. His sit-in protest in Guwahati hit its sixth day. He will wait until midnight for a response. If the state stays silent, he plans to turn the sit-in into a mass agitation.
Gogoi pushed for specific payouts. He wants between Rs 15,000 and Rs 25,000 for every affected family. He also seeks Rs 10 lakh in compensation for families and businesses. He demands a CBI probe to pin down those responsible for the disaster. He agreed to pull the plug on his protest if the government commits to these payments by October 31.
The lawmaker called out Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for ignoring the crisis. Sarma recently labeled the protest an attempt to blackmail the state. Gogoi dismissed the remark. He stated, "You do not need to support us. You only need to support the 2 lakh people affected by the floods."
Disputes over damage numbers remain high. Official government data claims 5.75 lakh people suffered across the district. Gogoi cited figures from the Disaster Reporting and Information Management System to claim there are 1.15 lakh affected families. A separate assessment by local teachers put that count at 55,000 families.
Updated at 8th October 2026 at 2:00am
Gogoi launched his satyagraha on October 2 to coincide with Gandhi Jayanti. He claims the Centre's Rs 1,200 crore aid package fails to cover the actual scale of the destruction and accuses state authorities of keeping the central government in the dark about the true extent of the damage. He specifically called out state ministers Sushanta Borgohain, Mayur Borgohain, and Dharmeswar Konwar for their poor handling of the crisis.
The legislator also claimed that Rs 20 crore donated by ONGC remains stuck in the Chief Minister's Relief Fund instead of reaching those in need. He mocked the government for celebrating recent election results in Silchar with firecrackers while the district remains in crisis, calling the display pure foolishness. Concerned that the state might use force to clear his camp, he invoked the memory of Pranab Boro to frame the struggle as a fight for the state's future.
Photo Courtesy: nenow

Comments