In Assam's Silchar Lok Sabha constituency, it's all in the family with a twist. One of Congress stalwart Santosh Mohan Deb's main campaigners in the past elections has crossed over to Sharad Pawar's fledgling Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to challenge him in the contest. And he happens to be Deb's younger brother, Subhash Mohan Deb.Subhash says it's natural that he should jump into the fray. ``I was born in a family of politicians. My father was an MLA and a prominent minister of Assam. My brother, Santosh, is a veteran Congress leader, who was also a minister at the Centre. And, while all these years I had been backing my brother, this time I am contesting against him,'' he says.Lest you consider this to be a betrayal of the worst kind, Subhash is ready with a chargesheet against his sibling. ``Santosh and his cronies have virtually strangulated the Congress in this constituency and in the Barak Valley. They have cheated the Muslims and other minority groups. He does not allow others to advance,''he complains. He adds for good measure his patron's reason for deserting the Congress. ``I cannot think of remaining in a party where a foreigner wants to become the Prime Minister.''Subhash, who is younger to Santosh by seven years, alleges that the Congress in Barak Valley, Assam's primarily Bengali region in the south, is dominated by a ``Gang of Five'', led by his elder brother. He names the members as Karnendu Bhattacharjee, Kamalendu Bhattacharjee (both ex-Rajya Sabha members) and Pradip Nandi. ``Santosh has also brought in his wife, Bitheeka, now,'' he points out.Santosh Mohan Deb has won from Silchar twice, first in 1985 and then in 1996. In 1991, he had contested from Tripura, clearing the way for BJP's Kabindra Purkayastha to win the seat but reclaimed it in 1996. But last year Purkayastha took his revenge by crushing him and joining the Central government as a minister.Subhash, a civil engineer who owns a construction firm, cannot be underrated and many say he has a fighting chance. Heclaims it was he who used to mobilise the young voters for Santosh in the past. ``This time I will pull a majority of the 18-36 year age-group votes. Santosh is right now running third. He may be even relegated to the fourth position,'' he asserts.Silchar is poised for an interesting quadrangular contest. While Purkayastha will be defending his seat, the AGP-led ruling alliance will field state irrigation minister Abdul Muji Mazumdar of the UPPA. The CPM, an ally of the AGP in the state, has a sizable number of votes in the constituency which will be go to Mazumdar.The Congress vote will get split between the two brothers which can, of course, throw up many possibilities. As of now, Subhash is confident of winning the seat to break his elder brother's monopoly in the region.
