Dibrugarh: The newly carved Demow assembly constituency in Sivasagar district will make its electoral debut, and it is set to witness a three-cornered contest between BJP’s Sushanta Borgohain, Congress candidate Ajoy Kumar Gogoi and CPI’s Ajoy Bora — a first-time ballot in a seat born out of delimitation.At the centre of the battle stands 52-year-old Sushanta Borgohain, the sitting MLA of the now-abolished Thowra constituency, a portion of which now falls within the newly constituted Demow seat. A seasoned three-time MLA with a colourful political journey, Borgohain brings the most formidable electoral track record to the table.Borgohain first won the Thowra seat in 2011 as a Congress candidate, defeating sitting Independent MLA Kushal Dowari by 4,286 votes. In 2021, he won the seat again under the Congress banner, defeating Dowari — this time contesting as the BJP candidate — by a narrow margin of 2,006 votes. Borgohain switched to BJP almost immediately after that victory, triggering a by-election. He then won that by-election, defeating Raijor Dal’s Dhaijya Konwar by a landslide of 30,561 votes.“The people of this area have supported me through every contest and every chapter of my political life. In Demow, I carry forward that trust with a commitment to development, better roads and stronger infrastructure,” Borgohain said, acknowledging the constituency’s pressing civic challenges.His principal challenger, 53-year-old Ajoy Kumar Gogoi of Congress, is a markedly different profile — a political first-timer with strong academic credentials. A former head of the political science department at Moran Mahila Vidyalaya, Gogoi built a reputation as an outstanding debater from his college and university days. While those skills may serve him well on the campaign trail, political observers note that his lack of grassroots electoral experience is a significant disadvantage against a three-time MLA.The third candidate, 44-year-old CPI’s Ajoy Bora, adds a left-wing dimension to the contest, though the party’s organisational strength in the constituency will be tested in what is expected to be a predominantly bipolar fight.On the ground, residents of Demow are vocal about their priorities. Dilapidated roads and crumbling bridges in rural pockets of the constituency remain the dominant concerns for voters who say that basic infrastructure has been neglected for years.“We have been asking for proper roads and safe bridges for a long time. We want a representative who will actually deliver, not just promise,” said Krishna Gohain, a resident from a rural pocket of the constituency.