"Dilip Paul is a powerful leader and can be a factor in the election," Shiladitya Dev goes against party-line in Silchar

BJP’s star campaigner among the Bengali population in Assam, Shiladitya Dev is in Silchar to campaign for Dipayan Chakraborty. From being the Hojai MLA to becoming a rebel after snub and then returning to the party as “just a primary member”, Shiladitya Dev has already seen many highs and lows in the BJP.

On Tuesday, he addressed a press conference in the party’s office in Itkhola, Silchar. While he is here to campaign for Dipayan Chakraborty, he spoke more about the former Silchar MLA Dilip Paul who is contesting independently in Silchar against the BJP candidate he is campaigning for. So far, the party’s leadership – MP Rajdeep Roy, Deputy Speaker and Sonai MLA, Aminul Haque Laskar maintained that Dilip Paul won’t be a factor in the upcoming election.

In fact, Aminul Haque Laskar went as far as to say that Dilip Paul is a “Mahajot” candidate and has an “under the table arrangement with” Congress. Laskar alleged that Paul is a former CPIM cadre and his reality got exposed after the party snubbed him.

If that was the party-line, Shiladitya Dev did not hesitate to go against it. “The leaders here might disagree with my opinion, but I think Dilip Paul is a good man, a powerful leader, and can be a factor in the election,” said Dev. He hurled praises for Paul, “He was the leader of opposition in Silchar Municipality Board, then became the MLA twice and became the deputy speaker too. He has a huge following in Silchar and that is why I had called him to explain that he can become the reason for BJP’s defeat. I had requested him to withdraw his notification, but he did not listen to me,” said Dev.

He even said that he knew six months back that Dilip Paul won’t get the ticket and it was just a matter of time before it was formally announced. When asked if the party could have discussed the matter before the formal announcement and taken the likes of Dilip Paul, Kabindra Purkayastha in confidence, Dev replied, “See, when a party becomes as big as BJP some mistakes happen and I accept, it should have been done before”

That was not the only shocking revelation in yesterday’s press conference. Dev said explained his own situation and said that he was also contemplating contesting as an independent candidate. “Many Karyakartas said I have a big chance to win. But I eventually decided against it after thinking about the negative aspect. What if I lose as an independent candidate and end up becoming the reason for BJP’s defeat, the repercussions would be huge. Whenever infiltration happens, the existing leaders get upset and there is often an outburst of emotions. But that does not mean I should go and contest as an independent candidate,” he asserted.

He was asked for clarification if he means there are infiltrators in the BJP and he replied by saying yes there are. Dilip Paul’s symbol as an independent candidate is the Helicopter. Dev, appealed to the mass to vote for BJP and crush the helicopter.

“Shiladitya Dev is like my younger brother,” said Dilip Paul while responding to Dev’s remarks. Paul added, “Why did BJP field a weak candidate that they are worrying about victory today? My fight is not against the BJP but it is against the syndicates.