If the ‘opinion polls’ are to be believed then it is certain that the resurgent BJP - led NDA is all set to occupy Delhi. Having said that, we also need to bear in mind that the opinion polls which gave Atal Bihari Vajpayee a clear mandate in TV studios turned out to be fake in 2004 as the saffron brigade’s tally came down to 138 seats from its previous tally of 182 seats.

Many analysts claim that the country is going to vote very judiciously. On the one hand, Narendra Modi is trying to project himself as a strong alternative to Dr. Manmohan Singh who, though he ruled India for 10 years, was never at the helm of affairs and became synonymous with a ‘puppet’. This charge was hurled at him by the BJP patriarch LK Advani in his campaign trail of 2009 when he termed Manmohan as ‘the weakest Prime Minister India has ever had’. But his charge boomeranged and the country gifted 205 seats to the coffer of the Congress.

I have not heard about Modi. I have to eke out my living by selling fruit juice. Till date Barak Valley is bereft of an industry. The lone industry which we have in Hindustan Paper Corporation is in ICU.

‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ penned by Dr. Sanjaya Baru the former media advisor to the outgoing Prime Minister has also repeated the allegations which the BJP patriarch levied against Dr. Singh five years back. At least the sulking octogenarian BJP leader has something to cheer about as nothing was going his way ever since Modi hit the centre stage.

During polls every party has a specific strategy to woo voters. Modi also addressed a rally in Barak Valley a few months back. Tens of thousands of people attended his rally. Now, it is to be seen as to whether Manmohan Singh of Silchar —Kabindra Purkayastha reap the benefit of his mammoth rally. BJP has always been accused of trying to destroy the secular fabric of India. In fact, the entire campaign of the Congress is revolving around this secular - communal discourse. Will it help Congress to counter the anti - incumbency wave? Well, we need to wait till May 16 to find out.

Till now Muslims have not been empowered properly and all the politicians are trying to score their brownie points by banking on their support. This he said is nothing but kissa kursi ka.

However, let us not divert from the issue at hand. We are trying to understand as to whether the ‘Modi Wave’ that the BJP is claiming is really visible at Silchar or not. This scribe posed this question to Satyajit Das who is a fruit seller. Satyajit retorted by saying, “Yes I know that the BJP has projected the Gujarat Chief Minister as its prime ministerial candidate. I will vote for Modi this time”. However, you also need to look at the other side of the story. Rakesh Krishi Das who sells shoes on the roadside when asked about Modi, gave a weird reply. He said, “I don’t know who Modi is”. But when he was asked about the general elections Rakesh said, “I am not bothered as to who will form the next Government in Delhi but certainly I would expect the next Government to rein in sky rocketing prices of essential commodities”. This is the issue of the aam aadmis.

More than 60 years have passed since we attained independence from the yoke of our erstwhile British masters and now at this juncture we can certainly not expect or rather afford to make India a theocracy. All the communities will have to live together and definitely whosoever becomes the next Prime Minister must have an ‘inclusive approach’.

The riots at Muzzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh have polarized the political atmosphere. There is no room for such kind of bamboozlement in a vibrant democracy.

The ‘Muslims’ are the second largest community in India and cannot be ignored. The meeting between Shahi Imam Bukhari and Congress president Sonia Gandhi created a hullabaloo and shows that the Congress too has read the writing on the wall and it is trying hard to keep its flock together. Now, a sizeable number of Muslims have begun taking an independent call. At least by talking to Ali Asgar Laskar, resident of Banskandi, one can get such a feeling. A well-educated Muslim, Ali saab has seen the world and even though he didn’t say who he will vote for, while speaking to him it became crystal clear that he is now a disillusioned supporter of the Congress. Ali said this time he thinks that the country needs to vote for a change. He raked up the infamous Muzzaffarnagar episode and mentioned the myopic political stance of the modern day Netaji — Mulayam Singh Yadav. The gist of his argument was that till now Muslims have not been empowered properly and all the politicians are trying to score their brownie points by banking on their support. This he said is nothing but kissa kursi ka.

For more than 20 years, Silchar was represented by Sontosh Mohan Dev in the Lok Sabha who always got the support of the minority community of Silchar. However, Sontosh Mohan has failed to meet their aspirations and is not in the pink of his health. But he always considered Silchar to be his fiefdom. The post of chairperson of Silchar Municipal Board has always been with the ‘Devs’. After Sontosh cemented his place in the corridors of power in Delhi, he made his wife Bithika Dev the chairperson of the Silchar Municipal Board who was more like a caretaker as Sontosh’s real aim was to project his heir apparent Sushmita which he did after encountering many hassles. 

Sontosh Mohan Dev was the Heavy Industries Minister of India. Expectations were high from him. Sadly, he could not bring any industry into the Barak Valley. He lost the chance to become the Abdul Gani Khan of Silchar in general and Barak Valley in particular. The minorities gave him a befitting reply in the 2009 general elections when he slipped into the third position by the grace of AIUDF supremo Maulana Badruddin Ajmal who emerged as a messiah of his brethren.

Amal Namasudra who runs a juice stall on the road side says, “I have not heard about Modi. I have to eke out my living by selling fruit juice. Till date Barak Valley is bereft of an industry. The lone industry which we have in Hindustan Paper Corporation is in ICU.” When asked what would be his expectation from the next MP of Silchar, Amal says, “I would be happy if our next MP can at least pave the way for an industry in Barak Valley”. This is the election nama of Silchar. Leaders like Kabindra Purkayastha, Sushmita Dev, Qutub Ahmed and many more who are always looking out for political equations need to ponder over these lines. An aam aadmi needs a job, good education and all the basic amenities which a normal human being aspires for.  

Satraajit Palchoudhury