Silchar Lok Sabha Election Assam IndiaCORRESPONDENT
SILCHAR, April 3 – A triangular contest is on the cards for the Silchar Parliamentary Constituency. The Congress has fielded sitting MP and Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises SM Dev, while Kabindra Purkayastha, a former MP, is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate for the seat.
The filing of nomination by Assam United Democratic Front supremo Badaruddin Ajmal has queered the pitch of the electoral battle for the constituency this time around.
Though Dev may find the going tough, the Congress workers are confident of his re-election. At a meeting held at Congress Bhawan here, the workers maintained that he would represent Silchar constituency in Parliament for another term.
A senior Congress functionary told reporters here recently that Dev is the fittest person to represent the Silchar seat as he has done a lot of work for the development of Barak Valley. The BJP, on the other hand, has been using the Ram Mandir issue alone as its poll plank, he said. The Congressman added that Dev is committed to the early commissioning of the Silchar-Lumding BG line project.
Meanwhile, the BJP has alleged that the Congress has done practically nothing for the development of the State. All the projects, which are now being executed by the Congress, were conceived by the BJP, members of the saffron party claimed. They also accused the Congress of failing to control the influx problem.
The BJP has traditionally done well in the Hindu-dominated Silchar constituency. Purkayastha was elected twice from the constituency. But there were reports of internal conflict in the party during the selection of the candidate for the forthcoming election. Some workers in the district committee of BJP rooted for a replacement for Purkayastha who had lost the Parliamentary polls on two occasions.
The workers wanted Ajit Bhattacharjee who, according to them, was right for the job. Though Purkayastha ruled out any such rift within the party at a recent news conference, sources maintained that there is still some dissent on this front.
The entry of the AUDF chief, on the other hand, has added to the electoral equations in the constituency. Rumours were earlier doing the rounds that Ajmal might not submit his nomination papers as he had an “understanding” with sitting MP and Union Minister Dev.
Ending such speculation, the AUDF supremo filed his nomination and later told newspersons that the Muslim community in Barak Valley has been suffering since the last 60 years. Ajmal maintained that his priority would be to usher in development and root out corruption. He said that Dev did nothing for the development of the valley despite being a Union Minister. The AUDF chief dismissed Purkayastha as a “weak candidate.”
It may be mentioned here that the Muslim votes have been a prominent factor in the Parliamentary elections for the Silchar seat. During the last polls, Anwar Hussain Laskar, a minority candidate, garnered nearly one lakh votes. This assumed significance in view of the fact that Dev had won the election by only 20,000 votes.
The going may get tougher for Dev as Ajmal has emerged as a political stalwart who wields considerable clout in the Muslim circles and has the backing of the Jamiat, an influential religious group.
Significantly, Ajmal told reporters recently that the AUDF would not support the National Democratic Alliance during the formation of the next Government at the Centre. “We are going to support the United Progressive Alliance as it does not comprise the Congress alone,” he said. The AUDF chief claimed that his party would win five Lok Sabha seats in Assam. Ajmal expressed the hope that the AUDF would soon emerge as a national party. He maintained that the AUDF is a secular party as it does not champion the cause of the Muslim community alone.
Meanwhile, common voters and intellectuals here feel that the constituency needs a change. While admitting that sitting MP Dev did work for the development of Barak Valley, they said that more was expected from him as he was a Central minister.
The stakes are not high for the BJP candidate, however, who is viewed as a “weak contender.” The entry of Ajmal has added a curious element to the poll scene even though the AUDF chief is yet to address a public rally here.
The electorate in general is demanding the early completion of the Silchar-Lumding BG line project. ASSAM TRIBUNE
SILCHAR, April 3 – A triangular contest is on the cards for the Silchar Parliamentary Constituency. The Congress has fielded sitting MP and Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises SM Dev, while Kabindra Purkayastha, a former MP, is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate for the seat.
The filing of nomination by Assam United Democratic Front supremo Badaruddin Ajmal has queered the pitch of the electoral battle for the constituency this time around.
Though Dev may find the going tough, the Congress workers are confident of his re-election. At a meeting held at Congress Bhawan here, the workers maintained that he would represent Silchar constituency in Parliament for another term.
A senior Congress functionary told reporters here recently that Dev is the fittest person to represent the Silchar seat as he has done a lot of work for the development of Barak Valley. The BJP, on the other hand, has been using the Ram Mandir issue alone as its poll plank, he said. The Congressman added that Dev is committed to the early commissioning of the Silchar-Lumding BG line project.
Meanwhile, the BJP has alleged that the Congress has done practically nothing for the development of the State. All the projects, which are now being executed by the Congress, were conceived by the BJP, members of the saffron party claimed. They also accused the Congress of failing to control the influx problem.
The BJP has traditionally done well in the Hindu-dominated Silchar constituency. Purkayastha was elected twice from the constituency. But there were reports of internal conflict in the party during the selection of the candidate for the forthcoming election. Some workers in the district committee of BJP rooted for a replacement for Purkayastha who had lost the Parliamentary polls on two occasions.
The workers wanted Ajit Bhattacharjee who, according to them, was right for the job. Though Purkayastha ruled out any such rift within the party at a recent news conference, sources maintained that there is still some dissent on this front.
The entry of the AUDF chief, on the other hand, has added to the electoral equations in the constituency. Rumours were earlier doing the rounds that Ajmal might not submit his nomination papers as he had an “understanding” with sitting MP and Union Minister Dev.
Ending such speculation, the AUDF supremo filed his nomination and later told newspersons that the Muslim community in Barak Valley has been suffering since the last 60 years. Ajmal maintained that his priority would be to usher in development and root out corruption. He said that Dev did nothing for the development of the valley despite being a Union Minister. The AUDF chief dismissed Purkayastha as a “weak candidate.”
It may be mentioned here that the Muslim votes have been a prominent factor in the Parliamentary elections for the Silchar seat. During the last polls, Anwar Hussain Laskar, a minority candidate, garnered nearly one lakh votes. This assumed significance in view of the fact that Dev had won the election by only 20,000 votes.
The going may get tougher for Dev as Ajmal has emerged as a political stalwart who wields considerable clout in the Muslim circles and has the backing of the Jamiat, an influential religious group.
Significantly, Ajmal told reporters recently that the AUDF would not support the National Democratic Alliance during the formation of the next Government at the Centre. “We are going to support the United Progressive Alliance as it does not comprise the Congress alone,” he said. The AUDF chief claimed that his party would win five Lok Sabha seats in Assam. Ajmal expressed the hope that the AUDF would soon emerge as a national party. He maintained that the AUDF is a secular party as it does not champion the cause of the Muslim community alone.
Meanwhile, common voters and intellectuals here feel that the constituency needs a change. While admitting that sitting MP Dev did work for the development of Barak Valley, they said that more was expected from him as he was a Central minister.
The stakes are not high for the BJP candidate, however, who is viewed as a “weak contender.” The entry of Ajmal has added a curious element to the poll scene even though the AUDF chief is yet to address a public rally here.
The electorate in general is demanding the early completion of the Silchar-Lumding BG line project. ASSAM TRIBUNE
No comments:
Post a Comment