Congress sends Tripura by-poll candidates’ list to Delhi for approval

AGARTALA: With barely three weeks left for the by-polls in Tripura, the Congress has sent their list of potential candidates to Delhi seeking screening and approval by the party high command, AICC secretary Szarita Laitphlang said in Agartala on Wednesday.

The by-polls will be held in four constituencies, Agartala, Town Bardowali, Surma and Yubrajnagar on June 23.

“We have forwarded the list of our candidates to Delhi for approval. We are hopeful to announce our candidates shortly,” Laitphlang told media persons at the Congress Bhawan in Agartala.

Nearly 84 people including a few leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) joined the Congress today in the presence of Laitphlang and leaders of the party’s Tripura unit.

The CPI-M announced its candidates soon after the notification for the by-polls was issued on May 30.

The candidates will require to file their nominations latest by June 6 while their papers will be scrutinised on June 7.

Any candidate, if they wish, can withdraw their nominations by June 9, according to a statement released by the Election Commission of India.

The counting of votes will be on June 26.

The by-poll has been viewed as a semi-final ahead of the state assembly elections to be held next year.