Akhil Gogoi is fighting on a platform of regionalism and anti-incumbency, backed by the Congress-led 6-party alliance, while Prodip Hazarika (AGP) is a veteran of the Assam Agitation and 5-time MLA from Amguri and Kushal Dowari (BJP) is a former ULFA member and two-time MLA, fielded as a "friendly" challenger to consolidate the core saffron vote.