Politics / Tripura

AGARTALA, Jan 11— Rajya Sabha member Khagen Das (CPI-M) will contest as the Left Front candidate in the by-elections for the West Tripura parliamentary constituency to be held on February 2, reports PTI. Baidyanath Majumder, chairman of the Left Front in Tripura and former Deputy Chief Minister, told a press conference here on Wednesday that the decision to field Das was taken unanimously in the Left Front meeting. The seat fell vacant due to death of veteran CPI-M leader Samar Chaudhuri. The Left Front chairman said the ensuing by-election has assumed significances as the Assembly elections...

AGARTALA, April 17: The failure of the state government to revalidate the Tripura Code of Criminal Procedure Act 1997 after two years, as statutorily required, has led to many people being held in jails without trial. In a significant ruling, the sub-divisional judicial magistrate of North Tripura's Dharmanagar sub-division yesterday declared the law as invalid. Law secretary A.B. Pal and other senior officials, away for a seminar in North Tripura, were not available for comment. The matter has been brought to the notice of the law department and registrar of the Guwahati High Court. Sources...

AGARTALA, April 16: Gripped by continued dissension in the wake of the ouster of autonomous district council chief executive member Debabrata Koloi from his post, the leadership of the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura is considering a major restructuring of the party to tide over the crisis. According to information available from senior IPFT leaders, party president Harinath Debbarma will be replaced by the chief of the high-level monitoring committee, B.K. Hrangkhawal. In order to forestall any revolt from the deposed party president - Harinath Debbarma is adept in breaking parties - he...

AGARTALA, April 14: Complications have surfaced over the issue of Congress nomination to the crucial Banamalipur Assembly constituency, which will face byelection in less than a month. The PCC has forwarded the name of Mahitosh Saha, brother of slain sitting Congress MLA Madhusudan alias Bhola Saha as the party's nominee for the bypoll. But the dissident faction of the PCC opposed to president Birajit Sinha later sent the name of reputed dental surgeon and chief of the doctors' cell Manik Saha. Besides, the women's front of the party has also demanded the nomination of state unit president and...

AGARTALA, April 13: The Agartala bench of the Guwahati High Court has terminated the services of eight panchayat extension officers recruited through the Tripura Public Service Commission in 1997. Justice BB Deb of the High Court also questioned the integrity commission's authorities who had made the appointments, when the case came up for hearing yesterday. According to the case details, advertisements were issued in 1995 in the CPM organ Daily Desherkatha, inviting applications for nine panchayat extension officers. Records showed that though 914 candidates applied for the post, the then...

AGARTALA, April 13: Tripura Public Service Commission (TPSC) which has been dogged by severe controversy for acting under political will of the ruling party and recommending jobs in a partisan manner depriving eligible candidates, came under severe criticism from no other than the Agartala Bench of Gauhati High Court on Thursday when Justice BB Deb terminated appointment of eight Panchayat secretaries. The High Court flayed the TPSC for resorting to unfair means in an unprecedented and uncalled for manner surrendering to the government's desire in appointing those Panchayat secretaries. On...

AGARTALA, April 6: After his effort to initiate peace process in Nagaland, now Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has taken steps to bring outlawed militant organisation National Liberation Front of Twipra (NLFT) to path of peace. The Mizoram Chief Minister on Thursday told a group of visiting reporters from Tripura that he had held preliminary talks with the NLFT leadership in an attempt to bring them to negotiation table. "Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has requested me to take some initiative for peace talks with NLFT", said the militant leader turned Chief Minister. "I had meetings...

AGARTALA, April 1: The Tripura unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has severed its ties with Trinamool Congress in the State as it withdrew support from the National Democratic Alliance Government at the Centre, according to State BJP president Brajesh Chakraborty here today, reports PTI. "There is no point in maintaining any understanding with Trinamool because alliance at the Centre has broken with the withdrawal of support by its chief Mamata Banerjee from the Union Government," Chakraborty told reporters here today. On the other hand, TC convenor Ratan Chakraborty said the party has...

AGARTALA, April 1: After lying low for sometime, NLFT militants have started interfering in the traditional religious rites of the people. The Church-backed militants have banned the use of traditional musical instruments for performing kirtans (devotional songs) by Hindu tribals. In pamphlets distributed among the Hindu tribals, NLFT marauders warned against the use of traditional musical instruments. The fiat has triggered panic among the Hindu tribals living in the interior areas like Borakha, Patni, Barkathal and Sonai in Sadar subdivision. Sources in the Sanatan Dharma Parishad said there...

AGARTALA, March 31:The sharp increase in municipal taxes on all heads in the budget for the coming financial year has created serious resentment. The Opposition parties have decided to launch an agitation against the tax hike. Agartala municipal council chairman Shankar Das placed a budget of Rs 21.49 crore for the council for the coming financial year. For the first time, the municipal budget showed a rise in taxes and service charges from 50 to 100 per cent in almost all sectors, including maintenance of pet animals, the charge for which has been doubled. Das justified the hike in taxes and...