“Joined hands with murderer of father’s political career,” Rajdeep Roy takes a jibe at Sushmita Dev; “It was Himanta and Gautam Roy’s plot,” she replies

Star campaigner for the BJP and Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath is in Barak Valley today. When the saffron leader usually arrives in any part of the country, he attracts huge attendance. It wasn’t the case in Silchar earlier today. The organisers of the meeting had to burn it out to fill the chairs placed at the India Club ground.

The programme started late and Yogi did not go all guns blazing, instead curtailed his flamboyance. It is clear that the BJP wants to consolidate the Hindu votes in Silchar in favour of the new face Dipayan Chakraborty. In a three-way battle with Tamal Kanti Banik of Congress and the hurt colleague Dilip Paul, the Hindu votes are going to be critical for the BJP candidate.

In fact, Silchar MP Rajdeep Roy was more aggressive and attractive today on the stage. However, he did spark controversy by turning the pages of history. Taking a jibe at the Congress, the member of parliament from Silchar said, “Sushmita Dev, daughter of Sontosh Mohan Dev went and joined hands with Badaruddin Azmal, the murderer of her father’s political career.”

Sontosh Mohan Dev, the former union minister is no more. However, what Roy was referring to is the debacle that Dev faced in the final part of his political career. In the 2004 general elections to the Lok Sabha, Sontosh Mohan Dev had defeated BJP’s Kabindra Purkayastha for the second consecutive term. In 2009, he was eyeing a hattrick of electoral victory over BJP but it didn’t happen.

With 24.89% votes, Purkayastha made a comeback as MP in Silchar. This only became possible as AIUDF supremo, Badaruddin Ajmal contested from Silchar making it a three-way race. He bagged the second position by securing 20.65% votes forcing Sontosh Mohan Dev to retire from politics. Dev was third with 20.16% votes in his favour. This is what Rajdeep Roy means when he defines Badaruddin Ajmal as the murderer of Sontosh Mohan Dev’s political career.

The conventional wisdom was that if there is no strong Muslim candidate contesting from Silchar, it becomes a very difficult race for the BJP in the general elections. Even if it is, for the time being, Rajdeep Roy has forced thinktanks to change their perception by securing the biggest victory for the BJP in Silchar by defeating Sushmita Dev with a margin of more than 80,000 votes in a one-on-one race in the general elections to Lok Sabha – 2019.

He referred to the same during his speech which heavily criticised Congress’ alliance with the AIUDF. He also reminded the gathering about his triumph. It is worth mentioning here that in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Roy had secured a lead of more than 53,000 votes in the Silchar Legislative Assembly.

When asked for a reaction, All India Mahila Congress president, Sushmita Dev who is busy campaigning for the respective candidates of the ‘Mahajhot’, said, “It was Himanta Biswa Sarma and Gautam Roy’s plot to field Badaruddin Ajmal in Silchar.”

She added, “They were the ones who funded him. Now Sarma and Gautam Roy are the faces of BJP and they are whom we are fighting. If there are any murderers of my father’s political career, they are Gautam Roy and Himanta Biswa Sarma who fought against him from within.”

It is clear that as we inch close towards the polling date (April 1, 2021), the war of words is going to get intense.