“I went with the contingent and presented Barak Valley’s issues related to delimitation to ECI” Sushmita Dev

Reports surfaced today claiming that AITMC’s Sushmita Dev who is a former member of Parliament from Silchar Constituency has missed reporting to the Election Commission of India’s allotted time slot for hearing of claims and objections related to the proposed delimitation of constituencies in Assam.

Speaking with Barak Bulletin, Dev rubbished the claims and said, “I am very disappointed that my own people have chosen to defame me in this manner with incorrect information.”

Dev explained that she visited the Election Commission of India (ECI) as a part of the contingent from the United Opposition at the designated time slot. She submitted the memorandum. When asked if she has spoken about Barak Valley while speaking as a part of the united contingent, she said, “I only spoke about Barak Valley. I submitted the memorandum and then attempted to shed light on how it is unfair on Barak Valley to reduce the representation in Assembly.”

It is worth mentioning here that the Election Commission of India has proposed to reduce the number of seats in Barak Valley from 15 to 13. Moreover, it has proposed to reserve the Silchar Lok Sabha seat for the people from the Scheduled Caste Community.

While Sushmita Dev has herself rubbished the report, renowned author and veteran journalist Atin Das appreciated the presentation made by Sushmita Dev and Rajdeep Roy on behalf of the people of Barak Valley. Writing a post on Facebook, Das lauded Rajdeep Roy for going against the party’s stand and representing his views and objections.

His post, if translated, reads, “The representatives from Barak Valley presented the issues related to delimitation in a very articulated manner. Despite being a national leader, the way Sushmita Dev questioned the integrity of Election Commission of India is appreciable. Similarly, Rajdeep Roy rose above fear and benefits to present facts as they are. In this day and age, such moves call for respect. My best wishes to them.”