Agartala: Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) has announced candidates for 49 of the 51 wards of Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC), leaving two wards for a later decision after CPM-led Left Front independently declared its nominees for the civic elections.Left Front announced 32 candidates for AMC on Nov 1, which meant there were only 19 wards remaining for Congress candidates, two days after Congress and CPM leaders had reached an informal understanding to contest the civic elections jointly.Announcing 49 Congress candidates for the 51 wards of AMC, Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee president Asish Kumar Saha said the party would field nominees in all wards of the state’s 15 other civic bodies, except five where it claimed candidates were unable to contest due to alleged intimidation by BJP supporters and cadres.Saha said he had discussed a possible seat-sharing arrangement with CPM state secretary and leader of the opposition Jitendra Chowdhury at the latter’s legislative office on Oct 30. The two leaders had agreed in principle to contest the elections together, he said.“We were surprised to see the Left Front independently declare nominations for 32 wards in Agartala and other local authorities across the state. It is common knowledge that we have a stronger position in Agartala, so we anticipated a fight for more seats. However, the circumstances have shifted unexpectedly. We are submitting nominations in every location, but we will wait to see how the situation unfolds until the final day for withdrawing papers on Nov 10,” Saha said.Saha said Congress and CPM leaders were still trying to reach local-level agreements for seat contests in Ambassa, Kumarghat and Teliamura. However, he said Congress would not be able to field candidates in Mohanpur, Jirania, Ranir Bazar, Kamalpur and Santir Bazar because of an atmosphere of fear allegedly created by BJP.Congress is gearing up to contest against BJP in other civic bodies while remaining open to a last-minute deal with CPM before the withdrawal deadline on Nov 10. Saha has already begun securing PCC approval for candidates across civic bodies in the state and arranging the necessary election symbol documents.
