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Polls in three northeastern states in
February
Tripura
will go to the polls Feb 14 to elect its state assembly, while
Meghalaya and Nagaland will have polling Feb 23, the Election
Commission announced Friday.
Results of all three states' assembly polls will be announced Feb
28, said Chief Election Commissioner
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Agartala: Hours after
the AICC announced the names of Congress candidates for the Feb 14
assembly elections in Tripura, local leaders and workers in as
many as 11 places in the state openly revolted, demanding change
in nominations.
In some places, the Congress workers even burnt down or damaged
party offices in protest.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Oscar
Fernandes in New Delhi Saturday night declared the nomination of
48 Congress candidates for the state's 60-member assembly, keeping
one pending and allocating eleven seats to its long-time political
ally Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT), a party with
a tribal base.
"We, the block Congress leaders of Charilam (in western Tripura),
would resign en masse from our respective posts if royal scion 'Maharaj'
Pradyot Bikram Kishore Debbarma is not given the party ticket,
replacing Himani Debbarma," Charilam block Congress president Amal
Debnath told reporters.
Over one thousand party workers, led by local leaders from
Charilam, Sunday met state Congress president Sudip Roy Barman
here and communicated their decision to Barman and the AICC.
Agitated Congress workers burnt down the party office at Boxanagar
demanding change of the official candidate Billal Mian, a former
minister, and nomination of Tofajjal Hossain, a senior party
leader.
Reports of the violent protests by party men and internal feuds
over selection of Congress candidates have been received from
Chandipur in northern Tripura, Charilam, Kamalasagar, Pratapgarh,
Khowai, Teliamura, Golaghati, Takarjala in western Tripura and
Hrishamukh and Amarpur assembly segments in southern Tripura.
The state's main opposition Congress seemed to be in disarray over
the selection of party nominees for the polls.
A large number of Congress workers last week laid siege to
Congress Bhavan, the party's headquarters in the state capital
Agartala, to press for the nomination of Jawahar Saha, Ratan
Chakraborty, Biva Nath and Billal Mia -- all former Congress
ministers.
They also demanded nomination of former legislators and senior
Congress leaders, such as Kajal Das, Dilip Muhuri, Bikash Das and
Jahir Ali.
In view of the demands of party workers, the AICC nominated Ratan
Chakraborty, Billal Mian and Kajal Das for next month's polls in
Left-ruled Tripura.
"In many places, Congress workers have locked party offices to
protest against the selection of party candidates for the ensuing
polls," senior Congress leader Tapas Dey said.
"It would has been wise (of the party leadership) if the people
who have lost polls in the state more than two times did not get
party tickets," Dey said.
Of the 48 Congress candidates, four are women and nine are tribals.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has also
announced candidates for 26 seats, has urged the Election
Commission of India (ECI) to defer the Feb 14 assembly polls in
Tripura in view of Saraswati Puja Feb 15, a popular puja among
Hindu students.
State BJP president Sudhindra Dasgupta in a fax message to the ECI
said: "Lakhs of students would be upset if they do not perform the
traditional Saraswati Puja. Hence, the polls must be deferred by a
few days."
Tripura, the country's lone Left-ruled state, is set for polling
Feb 14.
Two other northeastern states, Meghalaya and Nagaland, will have
polling Feb 23.
Results of all three states' assembly polls will be announced Feb
28, Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath said in New Delhi
Friday.
The assemblies in Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland have 60 seats
each. The five-year terms of these assemblies expire March 10,
March 16 and March 26, respectively.
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