Silchar Congress at cross-road

SILCHAR, June 5: Silchar district Congress might undergo a change of leadership following the debacle in the recent general election where heavyweight party candidate Sontosh Mohan Dev finished third. Karnendu Bhattacharjee, who had been the district Congress president for the last 22 years, had already expressed his willingness to quit.

He also simultaneously announced that before hanging up his gloves, he would unmask the Brutus of the party who had been instrumental in defeating Dev. Interestingly, Bhattacharjee, since his announcement just after the result, maintained a studied silence. An insider in the party hinted that Bhattacharjee, a former Rajya Sabha member for two times, wished to patch up with two prominent Dev-bailers like Gautam Roy and Dinesh Prasad Goala to keep his post secured. On the other hand, a group in the DCC said, Bhattacharjee should have resigned owing to moral responsibility for the defeat of Dev. Sources said, Dev had pressurized Bhattacharjee to convene a press meet to inform how some Congress leaders had sabotaged his victory. Bhattacharjee in his version maintained the sabotage-angle, but signed out AUDF factor as the main cause for the defeat of the Congress in Silchar. He, however, in his unique style cautioned those party workers who worked against Dev during the poll. On the other hand, Bhattacharjee promised a Committee would be formed to probe into the allegation of sabotage. But till how, no such committee had been formed. Meanwhile, another source said, former Rajya Sabha MP Kamalendu Bhattacharjee, who was expelled from the Congress, might make a comeback to his old party. Bhattacharjee, once a blue-eyed boy of Dev, contested the last Assembly election unsuccessfully on AUDF ticket, had refused to campaign for Ajmal this time. He had instead expressed his willingness to return to the Congress if the party gives him due honour. He still maintained a group of followers in the Congress who wished to replace Karnendu with him. But, Roy and Goala would play a vital role in opposing Bhattacharjee’s re-entry in the party. In this crucial juncture Dev would decide who would be the next DCC president, a source indicated. However there might not be a change of leadership within next three month as Municipality election would be held. THE SENTINEL