Agartala, Dec. 21: The Congress election committee for Tripura last night finalised the nomination of 12 of the 13 sitting legislators for the coming Assembly elections in the state.
The clamour for tickets has led to utter confusion. Aspirants are trying out all means to run one another down, with the high command deciding that the only way to control the bickering was to nominate members through voting within the committee.
Sources said ?several names have already been cleared? by consensus. Last night?s meeting in New Delhi, led by AICC general secretary Mani Shankar Aiyar, decided to renominate 12 sitting Congress legislators. The fate of Ashok Bhattacharya is, however, uncertain.
Bhattacharya, who attended last night?s meeting, developed?cardiac problems? and had to be hospitalised. Some members, opposing the move to field Bhattacharya, said he had done ?little work? in his constituency.
The election committee is also in a quandary over whom to nominate for the prestigious Banamalipur constituency in the state capital. Several aspirants, including former PCC chief Gopal Roy and former minister Laxmi Nag,, are eyeing the seat. Former MLA Ratan Chakraborty is also in the race.
The names of Abdul Motin Chowdhury for Kurti, Bibha Nath for Jubarajnagar, Sujit Pal for Fatikroy ? all in North Tripura district ? have been cleared through voting, sources said. Three names were forwarded to the scrutiny committee headed by Rajya Sabha leader Manmohan Singh.
The scrutiny committee, including PCC president Birajit Sinha, leader of the Opposition Jawhar Saha and former chief minister Samir Ranjan Barman, met tonight.
Sources said that an announcement regarding sharing of seats with the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura would be announced after party president Sonia Gandhi?s approval.
The INPT, too, is battling a major bickering over nominations in the forthcoming Assembly polls. Several aspirants, allegedly backed by the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura, are trying to unseat sitting legislators.
Infighting among the party members may cost MLA Nagendra Jamatya his ticket, a source claimed.
Jamatya is the moderate face of the INPT. He has won the Ampi Assembly constituency in South Tripura four times. Sources in the INPT said former chief executive member of the district council, Debabrata Koloi is giving a ?tough fight? to Jamatya with the ?support of the NLFT?.
There are disputes over several other seats like Pramod Nagar, Asharambari in Khowai, and Charilam in Bishalgarh sub-division. However, INPT leaders expressed the hope that the prickly issues would be settled amicably.
?Typically examine those who had defied the will of the Naga people in 1998 and elect responsible people who will support the peace process and not be a stumbling block,? was the message of the Naga Hoho to the electorate in Nagaland, which goes to the hustings in February.
At its two-day meeting that ended in Dimapur yesterday, the Hoho made a strong statement against the ruling Congress for participating in the 1998 polls.
The Naga Hoho had asked all the political parties in the state not to participate in the elections in 1998 to ?support the peace process.? It had also issued a threat that those who would defy its directive would be declared ?anti-Naga.?
The Congress, however, defied the call and retained power virtually without any contest as no Opposition party fielded any candidate. Significantly, the Hoho?s call has been opposed not by the Congress, but by a militant outfit.
The NSCN (K) has asked the Hoho to keep itself out of politics and concentrate in social activities. ?The Naga Hoho is only a social organisation and as such it should not meddle in politics,? NSCN (K) deputy kilonser Khugalu Mulatonu told The Telegraph.
The Hoho?s call comes close on the heels of the Church?s directive to the political parties not to go in for door-to-door campaigning in the forthcoming polls. The Church, however, did not make any direct or indirect appeal against any political parties. Chief minister S.C. Jamir also expressed apprehension that the NSCN (I-M) would set up ?proxy candidates? in the February polls.
At its session in Dimapur, the Hoho further reiterated its support to the scheduled talks between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M) leaders, but maintained that all militants groups should be involved in the peace process.
It has also expressed its willingness to mediate between the two warring factions of the NSCN. ?If the NSCN (I-M) is willing to sit with other groups, we are ready to be a mediator,? Naga Hoho president M. Vero told this correspondent.