Silchar (Assam): Development is a key issue in the prestigious Silchar Assembly constituency where the daughter of former union minister Santosh Mohan Dev is pitted against BJP's Rajdeep Roy. While canvassing support, Susmita Dev has found it easy to vibe with voters as the daughter of the Congress heavyweight, but feels uncomfortable answering questions as to why her father, a long-standing MP from Silchar Lok Sabha seat, "failed" to bring development in the area.
Susmita, an advocate, also faces questions as to why her father failed to connect Barak Valley, of which Silchar is a part, by broad gauge rail, which the electorate considers a pre-requisite for the much-needed development. She tried hard to deflect the criticism by arguing that growing militant activity particularly in North Cachar hill districts have acted as the stumbling block.
Susmita, Dev's youngest daughter, replaced her mother Bithika Dev, the sitting MLA from Silchar, traditionally a Congress bastion, as the Congress nominee.
BJP nominee Rajdeep Roy, son of former two-time MLA from Silchar late Bimalangshu Roy, has chosen lack of development in the valley as the campaign plank and promised to fulfil the long-standing demand of the people for a broad
gauge rail network.
Although the constituency has a sizeable number of voters from the minority community it never become a factor in the area as proved in the last election.
Drawing attention of the people to the promise of the state Congress government to implement a Rs 1000-crore development package, Susmita promised, "I would definitely persuade the state government to clear all projects". She also hopes to garner votes of the Muslim population as there are no other candidate of the community in the list of nominees put up by other parties.
Roy has concentrated on highlighting on what he alleged as large-scale corruption in the Congress-ruled state as well as the Centre. "I will also work to remove the sense of alienation of the Barak Valley people (who are predominantly Bengali speaking)," he said.
Roy, in his campaign, highlighted the four-lane project the NDA regime under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee mooted to connect Silchar with the rest of the country.
The constituency has a total electorate of 1,94,312 of which roughly 40,000 are from the minority community. Silchar goes to polls on April 4.
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