Silchar switches hands.
Election result update:
Final update: Rajdeep Roy defeats Sushmita Dev by 81596 votes.
At 5.50 PM, BJP's young gun Rajdeep Roy has sprung a huge surprise by getting a huge lead over Mahila Congress President Sushmita Dev. He is winning by 56,387 votes.
Silchar Lok Sabha constituency profile:
Silchar is one of the most high-profile seat of Assam as Mahila Congress President Sushmita Dev is the sitting MP. Both Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi have campaigned for her. She earned high praise from Priyanka, who compared her with Indira Gandhi.
However, BJP is not willing to give up without a fight. It has fielded young turk Rajdeep Roy, who is the party spokesperson and is a doctor by profession. PM Modi has campaigned for Roy where he strongly raised the issue of Citizenship Amendment Bill. It may become a factor for a significant number of Bengali Hindu voters in the seat, most of whom have migrated from erstwhile East Pakistan, current Bangladesh. There is also a sizeable portion of Muslim population in Silchar and AIUDF opting out is likely to help Congress in a tight contest.
Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma created flutter by comparing Sushmita Dev, a lawyer by profession to 'Pakistan'. Sharma said," PM is Modi, CM is Sonowal, I am the minister, Kishor Nath is MLA here. In between this, what is the job of Sushmita Dev? Everywhere is India, but there is a Pakistan in between. Will it work? No work will happen".
Roy alleges that Dev hasn't done much for the constituency which is struggling. He believes that the nearly 12 lakh voters are impressed by the work done by BJP in state and Centre and will chose the party from Silchar.
BJP has taken a gamble in choosing Roy over more experience Kabindra Purkayastha who lost out narrowly in 2014. Purkayastha has been BJP candidate from this seat for over two decades winning twice. In 2009, he defeated Badruddin Ajmal and in 1998, heavyweight Congress candidate Santosh Mohan Dev faced defeat.
Santosh Mohan Dev, who was also Union Minister won Silchar seat five times. Now the mantle has been taken up by his daughter Sushmita Dev. Dev got the Congress big guns to campaign for her, but can she overcome the stern BJP test. We have to vote till May 23 even though polling for the seat will be held on April 18.
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