Agartala, Feb 12: The CPI (M) led Left Front in Tripura re-nominated its sitting MPs for the coming Lok Sabha elections in the state while the opposition parties are yet to start the process of selecting their candidates. Announcing the names of the candidates, state Left Front committee convenor and CPI (M) state secretary Baidyanath Majumder told newspersons that Khagen Das would contest from the Tripura West Lok Sabha constituency, while Bajuban Reang would contest the Tripura East (ST) Lok Sabha constituency. Both are members of the just dissolved 13th Lok Sabha.
Reang, a former state agriculture minister, has contested from the Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency for a record seven times and been elected to the Lower House of Parliament five times, which is also a record in the parliamentary history of the state.
After the death of sitting CPI (M) Lok Sabha member Samar Chowdhury, Das, also the former revenue and health minister of the state, was elected from the Tripura West Lok Sabha constituency in the February 2002 by-elections.
The main opposition Congress and BJP-Trinamool Congress combine have also decided to contest in both the Lok Sabha constituencies. However, the opposition parties are yet to start the process of selecting their nominees.
Meanwhile, in a major political development, the tribal based Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) might snap its ties with the Congress and support the NDA candidates in the coming election.
Four senior INPT leaders are in Delhi and holding meetings with the top BJP leaders to finalise their strategies to support the BJP-led NDA. Bureau Report