Left Front announce candidates for Tripura polls

The Left Front Wednesday announced the names of party candidates in 59 of the 60 constituencies for the assembly elections in Tripura, which will go to polls next month along with two other northeastern states -- Meghalaya and Nagaland.

Of the 59 Left Front candidates, 12 will be new faces. The party has also named five women candidates this time. "This time, we have dropped seven MLAs, including three former ministers, on health grounds and other reasons," Khagen Das, convenor of the Tripura Left Front, told reporter.

"Left Front will come to power for the seventh time as the government has done excellent developmental work and launched various schemes for the well being of the people in the state," Das added.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), the leading member of the Left Front in Tripura, will field 55 candidates, while the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Revolutionary Socialist Party have nominated two contenders each. The Forward Bloc will have only one candidate.

CPI candidate for the Banamalipur assembly seat in Agartala will be declared later.

Among the 59 Left Front nominees, Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Anil Sarkar will contest the assembly polls for a record ninth time. Among other prominent Left Front candidates seeking re-election are CPI-M politburo member and Chief Minister Manik Sarkar (from Dhanpur constituency), state Finance Minister Badal Chowdhury (Hrishamukh), Transport Minister Manik Dey (Majlispur) and Aghore Debbarma (Asharambari).