"Barak Valley will reject Himanta Biswa Sarma's puppets," Sushmita Dev. Says "Mahajot will sweep"

All India Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev poses victory after casting her vote in Silchar.

“Himanta Biswa Sarma thinks voters of Barak Valley are in his pocket, this time he will get a befitting reply,” Dev asserted. “Barak Valley will reject Himanta Biswa Sarma’s puppets (Chela-Chamunda) and the Mahajhot will sweep Barak Valley,” she added.

It is an emotional day for the former member of parliament from the Silchar constituency. It is her father and former union minister late Sontosh Mohan Dev’s birth anniversary. She paid homage to him at their residence in Silchar and said, “He remains my strength and my inspiration.”

When asked why she is so upbeat this time despite being defeated by a huge margin in the general elections to Lok Sabha, Dev said, because of the candidates. “We have fielded candidates who deserve to be contesting in the elections. On the other hand, just a few random names are contesting from the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is a deliberate attempt from them because weaker candidates here will enable them to control affairs remotely,” she added.

It was in the public domain that Sushmita Dev had some issues with the Assam Pradesh Congress and the party’s high command while shortlisting the candidates. “It would have been an issue if I held a press conference and rebelled against the party. I have never done something like that. Yes, I did voice my opinion strongly and I have all the right to do so in a democratic party like the Indian National Congress,” said Dev.

Another issue that has been raised a lot during the election campaign is the fact that Sushmit Dev is not protesting publically against Citizenship Amendment Act. She dodged a direct question but responded with another, “CAA is a tool for BJP to make people fool. No Bengali will come and say that I am a Bangladeshi which is a compulsion in CAA. We all need to understand that CAA is only for foreigners and not for people already in the country,” added Dev.

According to the Election Commission of India’s Voters turnout app, till 1:15 pm approximately 44.21% of the electors in Silchar have turned up to cast their Vote. It is worth mentioning here that the Cachar district’s approximate turnout till 1:15 pm is 46.98%. So, the turnout in Silchar is slightly less than the average turnout of the district.