Agartala, Jan 28: The opposition Congress, which would contest the February 16 elections to the 60-member Tripura assembly in alliance with the CPI-M led Left parties, on Saturday announced a list of 17 candidates.
The CPI-M-led five Left parties announced their 47 candidates on Wednesday, leaving 13 seats to their new ally Congress while dropping 8 sitting MLAs.
Congress leaders, who were upset over the meagre allotment of seats to them by the Left parties, refused to make any comments about the candidates’ list.
Sounding disappointed, Congress leader and the party’s lone MLA, Sudip Roy Barman, had said that they had first demanded 27 seats, and then 23 seats from the Left parties.
“They (Left parties) have taken the decision as per their whims and fancies, we would go as per the wishes of the people,” Roy Barman said
According to the Congress candidates’ list, announced by the party’s Central Election Committee General Secretary Mukul Wasnik, Roy Barman would seek re-election from the Agartala constituency while state party President Birajit Sinha would contest from Kailasahar, from where he was earlier elected to the state assembly.
Former Tripura state Congress President Gopal Roy would contest from Banamalipur seat and former MLA Ashish Kumar Saha would seek re-election from Bordowali seat.
Tripura Chief Minister and BJP nominee Manik Saha and state BJP President Rajib Bhattacharjee would also contest from Bordowali and Banamalipur seats respectively.
Interestingly, three parties BJP, Congress and Forward Bloc — have nominated their candidates for the Badharghat constituency, traditionally a Congress bastion, from the same family.
While BJP nominated Mina Rani Sarkar, her elder brother Raj Kumar Sarkar has been fielded by Congress and Forward Bloc nominated their nephew Partha Ranjan Sarkar, a lawyer.
The trio joined different parties after the death of Congress MLA and former minister Dilip Sarkar, who died three years ago.
Despite the seat adjustments between the Left parties and the Congress, both sides nominated candidates in the scheduled caste reserve seat.
