This Assembly segment has the unique character of having the maximum number of Chief Engineers: 2 former Chief Engineers, who are secretaries with the State government now and 5 are currently serving as chief engineers with different departments in the State. Invariably, for second consecutive term, immediate relatives of one or the other Chief Engineers are in the fray.
Gadam Ete, sitting Congress MLA and brother of Gaken Ete, Chief Engineer Water Resource Department, is young and energetic but a political nobody. Track record - all important decisions are taken by his brother. During the last elections in 2004, he won by a slender margin of 205 votes against Jumbi Bagra, the then Independent candidate. This time he could face anti-incumbency factor. There is also accusation that he had not maintained any connection with the grassroots leaders. And it very nearly would have cost the Congress dearly if the panchayat leaders had not taken their roles seriously in the last minute.
Giving him a strong fight is Duter Padu, a Class XII pass-out and a former school teacher before she took the plunge in electoral politics starting with supporting the BJP MP candidate during the last Parliamentary election. She joined INC for a brief stint. But is now contesting the Assembly seat under the All India Trinamool Congress banner. Her husband Geyum Padu is also a Chief Engineer in the Public Health Engineering department. She is harping on the failures of the incumbent MLA on all fronts.
Political observers remark that this battle is neither a contest between two parties nor between two different ideologies but this fight is all about egos of two chief engineers. If one is an encouragement in a party which voices better women leadership in the grassroots and within the party, than the other is an epitome of an obedient sibling. THE SENTINEL
No comments:
Post a Comment