Santosh Mohan Dev tried to malign me: Gautam Roy

SILCHAR, July 25: Just prior to the Municipality election in Silchar, State Excise Minister Gautam Roy today virtually made a veiled attack on former Union Minister Santosh Mohan Dev. Showing a clipping of The Sentinel, Roy in a press meet said, Dev had produced the paper clipping to party president Sonia Gandhi and raised some serious allegation against Roy. Citing this, Roy said he never tried to malign the image of Dev, but the latter is always trying to undermine him.

Maintaining that Silchar Congress has not invited him to campaign for party candidates for the ensuing civic body poll, Roy, however, said he would visit Ward No. 27 where Dev’s daughter Susmita is contesting and would seek votes from the public. He, however, did not turn up till the filing of the news in the evening. Roy evaded a direct answer to the question about the chances of Congress in the ensuing poll but claimed that the opposition in Karimganj, Hailakandi, Lala and Badarpur would just be washed out and that the Congress would sweep in the election. Making a dig at the selection of candidates in Silchar, Roy said Trisha Nandy, widow of Pradip Nandy, once a close confidante of Dev, should have been given party nomination as that would have sent a good message to the party workers. SOURCE: THE SENTINEL