Agartala, Jan. 13: The Left Front today released its list of nominations for the forthcoming Assembly elections. Seven sitting MLAs, including Tripura minister for jail Balaram Reang, have been denied party tickets. The list has 16 new faces and three women — Baijayanti Koloi (Takarjala), Kalyani De (Barjala) and Bijaylaxmi Sinha (Kamalpur). The sitting MLAs who have been dropped are Gitamohan Reang, Ananata Pal, Baidyanath Mazumder, veteran CPM secretary who has opted out, Anil Chakma, Sandhya Debbarma, Binduram Reang and Balaram Reang.
Left Front chairman Baidyanath Mazumder told newspersons today that the Front was trying to put up young faces with a clean image. He described the February polls as “tough” and criticised the Congress for forming an alliance with the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura, “the overgro-und agent of terrorist forces”.
Cong list today
The Congress will finalise its list of nominations for 42 of the state’s 60 Assembly seats at a meeting of the party’s central election committee in Delhi tomorrow. The party is contesting in 42 seats, while its alliance partner, the INPT, will field candidates in 18 constituencies reserved for tribals.
Congress sources said after several rounds of discussions between the pradesh election committee and the screening committee it has been decided that all 13 sitting MLAs would be given tickets. The party has also decided on the candidates for 13 other constituencies. The remaining 16 nominees would be finalised at tomorrow’s meeting, the sources added.
The INPT is divided over the issue of nomination for the 18 tribal seats. Sources said factions belonging to the erstwhile Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura, which merged to form the INPT last year, were both demanding lion’s share of the nomination.