Sontosh Mohan Dev deprived Dinesh Prasad Goala: Kabindra Purkayastha

SILCHAR, April 5: Aiming to cash in on the much-hyped intra-party clash in the Congress, the BJP candidate Kabindra Purkayastha, in a number of public meetings in Lakhipur area said that Sontosh Mohan Dev had deprived the more ‘efficient’ leader Dinesh Prasad Goala from contesting the prestigious Silchar seat.

Purkayastha, a former Union Minister, even accused Dev of not fulfilling the promise he had made in 2004 that in the next general election, Goala a Minister in the Tarun Gogoi Ministry of the state as well as a leader representing the tea tribe community, would get the Congress nomination. Dev had also declared that the 2004 election was his last electoral battle, reminding this Purkayastha said Dev had not only failed to keep his promise but also deprived an efficient leader like Goala. It is to be noted that, Lakhipur is the home constituency of Goala and he enjoys complete authority in the gardens.

Kabindra Purkayastha might play a Chanakya by applying divide and rule policy but whether his own house was in order is a question too. The intra –house clash in the saffron camp was very diplomatically poked by party’s state vice president as well as former MLA of Silchar Bimalangshu Roy, who had admitted that the electoral debacles in 2004 Lok Sabha and 2006 Assembly election were on result of infighting inside the party. He virtually admitted that in 2004 Lok Sabha election, a good number of party workers lacked enthusiasm. Purkayastha lost that election by a poor margin of 20,200 votes though he enjoyed a considerable lead in Silchar Assembly centre which was represented by Roy. In 2006 Assembly election, the two-time MLA Roy lost to Bithika Dev, wife of Sontosh Mohan Dev. At least seven leaders known to be Purkayastha’s followers were suspended by the state committee on allegation of anti-party activities as labelled by Roy himself. Roy now claimed that at present, there was no infighting in the party but tactfully reminded that he was a victim of sabotage by a group close to Purkayastha who were suspected by the state unit. Though subsequently the suspension was withdrawn. THE SENTINEL