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Friday, October 9, 2009

Pathetic roads led to Congress defeat in general election

SILCHAR, Oct 9: The blow of defeat to the Congress in the last general election is still fresh in the party and this was visible in the recent verbal war that took place between Santosh Mohan Dev and Urban Development Minister Dinesh Prasad Goala in a party meeting. The meeting was also attended by APCC leader Manjusree Pathak. According to sources, pathetic condition of the roads in Silchar was one of the main reasons for the defeat of Congress candidate Sontosh Mohan Dev.

Referring to the much talked about Rs 63-crore road project for Silchar funded by CRF, Goala said, the construction firm, Gautam Construction, has created problems by distributing the work among sub-contractors giving them 25 to 30 per cent commission. Sources said Gautam Construction was known to be very close to Dev, who got the project sanctioned when he was a Union Cabinet Minister despite resistance from Dispur.

Dev also said that when the Rs 20-crore project was sanctioned for the first phase, no contractor was allowed to even submit any tender. “Where was Goala then? What did he do?” an excited Dev bounced back. Goala, on the other hand, alleged that the Rs 170-crore Storm Water Drainage project was entrusted with the NBCC keeping the State Government in complete darkness. It is to be noted that Dev was instrumental in entrusting the mega project to the NBCC, which left the project halfway creating more complicities in finishing it.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader as well as Silchar MP Kabindra Purkayastha alleged: “Ego clash among Congress leaders are the main hurdles in the completion of various road projects as the latter has hidden nexus with contractors.” THE SENTINEL

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