BJP with a new man for silchar seat

The BJP had already announced former Union Cabinet Minister Sri. Kabindra Purkayastha as their face for Silchar MP constituency. But there is a fresh twist to the tale. Dhrubendu shekhar Bhattacharjee, a lwayer and youth leader, is the new face for the seat , despite Mr. Kabindra Purakayastha being an experienced man. Bhattacharjee has been chosen for the post based on party policy .

A faction of district BJP has shown resentment at this decision of the party. The party officials at New Delhi have taken a consensus in this issue. BJP was the first party to announce its candidate for the seat almost a fortnight ago but has suddenly made this change which comes as an unexpected move from their camp.

Santosh Mohan Dev gifted with Golden Crown

It might seem some 18th century royal coronation but that is how things unfurled on 12th evening when the union cabinet minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises was on his Karimganj tour.

Three Congress leaders of the district Rajat Chakraborty, Aminur Rashid Choudhury and Krishnendu Paul gifted the minister with a gold crown when he was visiting the Karimganj District Congress Office.

The three leaders said that on behalf of Karimganj District Congress Committee , they wanted to thank Sri Dev for his efforts in bringing many developmental project grants for their place. This they call it was their token of gratitude

Rift deepens in Cachar Congress

Minister of the state cabinet and in charge of the Cachar District Sri Dinesh Prasad Goala is distancing himself from the functions of the district congress these days.
In the recent Barak valley tour of the Health Minister he was not seen on a single occassion. He excused himself on health ground but if sources are to be bvelieved than there is an internal rift in the Cachar Congress that has led to this scenario.

Sources say that regarding decisions taken at the Centre and State Cabinet regading Cachar district and the way Sri Goala is being sidelined by some leaders has not gone down well with him and he has distanced himself from the party organisation at this level for some time now.

BJP Threatens to block Goods Train

The Silchar-Lumding Railway has been a contentious issue for quite some time now and the political parties are busy utilising the issue to cash in votes. The BJP threatens to stop the movement of Goods train in this route if passenger train fails to ply.

They have performed a demonstration at various places including Silchar, Lumding, Karimganj and Badarpur on 30th June to protest for the erratic movement of passenger rail in this track, their logic though remains absurd that they will block goods train movement if passenger train fails to ply.

Their Cachar District President Sri. Udayshankar Goswami has said that is passenger train movement does not get underway as per schedule, they will not allow goods train to run in this route.

Among others present in the demonstration were former Union Cabinet Minister Sri. Kabindra Purkayastha, Vice President of District BJP Kirit Bhushan Purkayasthaand others like Kaushik Rai.

The politics of Broad-Gauge

The proposed Broad-Gauge track between Silchar and Lumding that has faced severe road blocks in the last few years, has turned out as one of the fresh hot spot for political lashing and rivalry between the parties.Everyone here is busy politicising the issue and playing the blame game. But amidst all these contentions, ACKSHA(All Cahar Karimganj Hailakandi Students Association) has intensified their agitation for the cause. This railway track can be a lifeline for millions in the valley and also solve communication problems for people of Barak Valley.In a tie up between ACKSHA and ADSU(All Dimasa Students Union)they have called for a Protest and Display on 27th June and a Strike on 8th August to intensify their campaign.This is the first time the two organisations have come together agitating for the cause. They have also submitted a memorandum to Mr. Basudeb Acharia, MP and Chairman of Standing Committee on Railways during his recent visit to Silchar last week.

Santosh Mohan accepts broad-gauge delays

Central Minister Santosh Mohan Deb accepts the delay in the Lamding-Silchar broad-gauge railway-line project. “Time delays can occur for any project. Terrorist activities are causing major problems in the project. The central government is taking steps against terrorist activities to stop further delays.” he said.

The Minister added, “So far there have been around hundred causalities and injuries due to terrorist intervention. The workers are afraid and have lost spirit. A battalion of 1000 ex-army officials is being formed for their security. Already 300 personals have been recruited. As soon as the security problems are solved, the work-pace will improve.”

However there was exchange of some sharp words between Santosh Mohan and BJP leader Kabindra Purakayastha on Friday. Kabindra told the reporters “Broadgauge is still out of sight, but Santosh Mohan Deb announced that he will ride the broad-gauge for vote campaigns in 2009”. Santosh Mohan denied all the claims saying he never made such a remark.

Kabindra Purakayastha disappointed with broadgauge progress
The broadgauge conversion between Silchar and Lumding is taking ages. Even after tons of money spent on the project, things are going extremely slow. There was exchange of some sharp words between Santosh Mohan and BJP leader Kabindra Purakayastha on Friday. Kabindra told the reporters “Broadgauge is still out of sight, but Santosh Mohan Deb announced that he will ride the broad-gauge for vote campaigns in 2009”. Santosh Mohan denied all the claims saying he never made such a remark.

Dipankar Roy arrested in FCI Food Grain Racket

Dipankar Roy brother of local BJP leader has been nabbed in the FCI Food Grain Theft Case. His firm the Debanjanli Axim trading had rented the godown of S.S. Rice Mills in the Tarapur area from where stolen bags of rice from FCI Godown had been recovered.

In this case two other influential personalities and aides of Congress Leaders have also been under the scanner. Shibu Kanungo, a close aide of Minister Dinseh Prasad Goala, and Sujan Dutta a close aide of Minister Gautam Roy are also under scrutiny. Mr. Kanungo and Mr. Dutta are also associated with the Silchar Co-operative.

Mr. Shibu Kanungo has given a statement clarifying all charges brought against him but have not been able to furnish any concrete evidence to prove the falsity of the charges against him. Mr. Dutta on the other hand has been flipping his statements every now and then.
SP of Cachar Mrs. Violet Baruah has said that the police is taking all possible measures to get into the depth of the matter and that they are under no pressure from any higher authorities to let these people off.

Minister Gautam Roy stages a resignation Drama

The Karimganj District Congress office witnessed a drama on Tuesday when influential and powerful state cabinet Minister Sri. Gautam Roy created a scene by staging a resignation Drama. District Congress president Sri. Sotu Roy also continued the plot further by requesting Minister Roy not to take any decision in a moment of fury.

A sudden shock wave ripped through the Congress Bhawan in Karimganj on Tuesday afternoon when Minister Roy said tat he is going to resign from the Legislative Assembly as well as Congress Party.

Minister Roy said that the speech given by Sri. Sotu Roy at the meeting organized by senior congress leader Mr. Verappa Moily , was one that had humiliated Gautam Roy and he wanted to resign from the party in protest.
But somehow the plans could be put to rest after much insistence. Minister Roy is also the State Government’s district in charge of Karimganj District.