Political watchdog hails Barak Valley voters for rising above caste & creed

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR: Elections unlike other parts of the country — particularly the Hindi heartland, are fought in Barak Valley, nay Assam, rising above communal divide. This has also been seen in the valley. No political party has raised any slogan or campaigned to influence the voters, going against ECI's 'Code of Conduct' excepting certain aberrations by the AIUDF (All India United Democratic Front) although it was forewarned by its senior partner in alliance, Congress.

On the whole, the 2021 general election was peaceful across the Barak Valley. The district administrations of Cachar and Karimganj, however, were over-exercised over EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) goof ups and had to give explanations to remove the misgivings in public mind. There was no political motive. Yet the Opposition drew many a conclusion.

The Barak Democratic Front (BDF) — floated just a few months before the elections as a political watchdog — congratulated the voters for exercising their democratic right in a disciplined manner. Pradip Dutta Roy, chief convener of BDF, said that whichever party comes to power, his organisation will continue to fight in the interest of Barak Valley and its people. He, in particular, congratulated the democratically conscious people for not being swayed by any religious or communal overtone. There was no polarisation on communal basis.

Dutta Roy hoped that this tradition would continue in the future also. He also expected that members of all linguistic and religious groups as well as tribes will maintain integrity and solidarity to keep the development process undisturbed.

He stated that his organisation had motivated the political parties to raise the burning issues of syndicate, closed paper mills, unemployment, deficiencies in SMCH (Silchar Medical College & Hospital), incomplete East-West corridor, inflation and the bottled-up industrial development. Dutta Roy was happy that the BDF could stir up people's mind by raking up their issues within a short time. He also said that the Front would fight for the promised multi-nodal logistic park, renaming of the Silchar railway station as 'Silchar Bhasha Sahid Station', improvement of SMCH and recognition of Bengali as an associate language and also pressurise the government that comes to power for their fulfillment.

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