BJP, Cong end campaigning on a high in Silchar

Guwahati: Hectic electioneering both BJP and Congress in Silchar parliamentary constituency marked the day before campaigning for the second phase of polls ended at 5 PM on Tuesday. Silchar, along with four other parliamentary seats, will go to the polls on April 18.
Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal embarked on a whirlwind tour in Silchar parliamentary constituency and addressed election rallies at Katigorah, Sonai and Dholai (SC) assembly segments on Tuesday. In Silchar, BJP took out a bike rally and carried a house-to-house campaign to mobilize voters. Sonowal, who addressed the rallies in Bengali, Assamese and Hindi, said the Barak Valley has seen development under Narendra Modi. He added that development will gather steam once Modi becomes the PM again.

Training his guns at incumbent Congress MP Sushmita Dev, Sonowal alleged that the party has deprived the people of Barak Valley of their due rights. Dev is seeking re-election from the Silchar seat and is pitted against BJP’s Rajdeep Roy.

“After Modi came to power in 2014, infrastructure projects, including conversion work of railway tracks to broad gauge, took speed,” Sonowal said.

BJP’s hectic campaign on the last day followed Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s election campaign in Silchar on Sunday. Priyanka’s roadshow covered a 3-km stretch of Silchar that took nearly two hours for her convoy to travel, drawing massive crowds on the way. She also addressed a rally in the Rangirkhari locality of Silchar.

On April 11, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed an election rally in Silchar where he promised to table the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament and ensure its passage if it comes to power again. On Tuesday, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav told reporters that there are no differences among the allies of BJP in the state over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

Also on Tuesday, Congress in charge for Assam and former CM of Uttarakhand Harish Rawat told reporters in Silchar that five years of the Modi government was marked by failures, particularly in job creation and economic development.