Haflong: Indian National Congress candidate Nandita Gorlosa spent Friday engaging directly with shopkeepers and merchants at Haflong Market.
“Real progress begins when we listen to our people and act on their needs,” she said, reaffirming her pledge for a self-reliant Haflong.
Dima Hasao faces a profound ecological crisis. Once blanketed by dense forests that sustained rich biodiversity and the indigenous Dimasa communities, the district has lost around 20% of its tree cover since 2001, releasing massive carbon emissions while accelerating soil erosion on steep slopes.
Illegal rat-hole coal mining and limestone quarrying for cement plants have left abandoned pits, caused widespread deforestation, polluted rivers like the Kopili and Diyung, degraded agricultural lands, and threatened local water sources and wildlife habitats.
Dima Hasao district has only one Assam Legislative Assembly seat: the reserved 113-Haflong (ST) constituency.
Following nomination scrutiny, the contest has narrowed into a triangular fight.
Gorlosa represents the Congress after joining the party on March 23, 2026, replacing its original nominee, Nirmal Langthasa. The BJP has fielded newcomer Rupali Langthasa, while the National People’s Party (NPP) has nominated Daniel Langthasa. The Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) candidate, Anjosh Terang, withdrew.
Gorlosa, who won the seat decisively in the 2021 Assembly elections on a BJP ticket, served as a Cabinet Minister in the Himanta Biswa Sarma government from 2022 to 2026.
Denied a BJP ticket for the upcoming polls, she crossed over to Congress just before the nomination deadline, injecting fresh momentum into the opposition campaign in this tribal-dominated seat.
Single-phase polling is scheduled for April 9, 2026, with counting to take place on May 4.
Dima Hasao, home to Assam’s only hill station at Haflong, looks for a representative to address its history, environment, natural resources, and the interests of local communities.