SILCHAR, May 24: The Cachar District Congress Committee is undergoing a phase of turmoil following the debacle in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections where party candidate as well as veteran leader Sontosh Mohan Dev was pushed to third position. A source in the district congress hinted that in spite of AUDF wave, which snatched away traditional Muslim votes from Dev’s account, sabotage by leaders and workers of Congress sealed the fate for the veteran leader.
Dev, just few days before the April 16 election, openly told The Sentinel that he was worried about some ‘black sheeps’ in the party. A source, close to Dev, indicate that State’s Urban Development Minister Dinesh Prasad Goala was instrumental in bringing in massive erosion of Congress’ traditional garden votes.
Goala defended his position with the argument that Laxmi Organ, The ‘Beltola tragic heroine’, had left a major impact on the garden votes with her emotional speech in Lakhipur, the constituency Goala had been representing in the Assembly for almost 25 years.
His arguments, however, get a few buyers, as Laxmi addressed a few street corner meeting in a compel of gardens, which were touted as ‘super flop’ by the local media. Moreover, the question that dogged the local Congress camp was that, how could Goala, with his immense influence on the gardens, fail to counter a non-entity like Laxmi?
It is to be noted that in 2004, Dev overpowered the BJP by securing a lead of at-least 15,000 votes in Lkhipur. This year, Dev managed to get a lead of less than 700 votes, a clear indication of massive erosion in garden votes. Interestingly AUDF candidate Badrauddin Ajmal topped in three out of seven Assembly segments. It too indicated a sabotage by a section of Congress, the party which had in its grip the power of maximum Panchayats.
A source said, along with the Muslim and tea-tribe Congress workers, even Panchayat representatives had voted for Ajmal. Karendu Bhattacharjee, Congress district president for the last 22 years, declared that a thought probe would be held to identify the traitors. But an insider hinted that Bhattacharjee himself should owe moral responsibility for the poll debacle, steps were a foot to revamp the entire district committee pumping new blood into the organizations.
A strong lobby of Dev-baiters was waiting for long time to usher in a change of leadership in the district congress. Sensing this, Bhattacharjee, in a meeting last week at party office, openly declared that Dev was still their leader. THE SENTINEL
Dev, just few days before the April 16 election, openly told The Sentinel that he was worried about some ‘black sheeps’ in the party. A source, close to Dev, indicate that State’s Urban Development Minister Dinesh Prasad Goala was instrumental in bringing in massive erosion of Congress’ traditional garden votes.
Goala defended his position with the argument that Laxmi Organ, The ‘Beltola tragic heroine’, had left a major impact on the garden votes with her emotional speech in Lakhipur, the constituency Goala had been representing in the Assembly for almost 25 years.
His arguments, however, get a few buyers, as Laxmi addressed a few street corner meeting in a compel of gardens, which were touted as ‘super flop’ by the local media. Moreover, the question that dogged the local Congress camp was that, how could Goala, with his immense influence on the gardens, fail to counter a non-entity like Laxmi?
It is to be noted that in 2004, Dev overpowered the BJP by securing a lead of at-least 15,000 votes in Lkhipur. This year, Dev managed to get a lead of less than 700 votes, a clear indication of massive erosion in garden votes. Interestingly AUDF candidate Badrauddin Ajmal topped in three out of seven Assembly segments. It too indicated a sabotage by a section of Congress, the party which had in its grip the power of maximum Panchayats.
A source said, along with the Muslim and tea-tribe Congress workers, even Panchayat representatives had voted for Ajmal. Karendu Bhattacharjee, Congress district president for the last 22 years, declared that a thought probe would be held to identify the traitors. But an insider hinted that Bhattacharjee himself should owe moral responsibility for the poll debacle, steps were a foot to revamp the entire district committee pumping new blood into the organizations.
A strong lobby of Dev-baiters was waiting for long time to usher in a change of leadership in the district congress. Sensing this, Bhattacharjee, in a meeting last week at party office, openly declared that Dev was still their leader. THE SENTINEL
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