By IANS
Agartala : The ruling Left Front in Tripura is facing a revolt of sorts ahead of assembly elections next month with one of its constituents threatening to field candidates in 15 seats against the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) that leads the alliance.
The CPI-M has allotted only one seat to the Forward Bloc (FB), which had been demanding at least three seats in the polls to the 60-member assembly.
“If our demand is not met soon, the FB will contest in 15 seats,” said Shyamal Roy, the general secretary of the state unit of the party.
“The FB state council, the party’s state unit apex body, reviewed the latest situation Sunday and remained firm in nominating candidates in 15 assembly constituencies keeping in mind the party’s growing influence and political strength across the state,” Roy said.
The Left Front last month announced candidates for 59 seats leaving one for the FB. Front convenor Khagen Das said the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), the other two constituents of the front, would contest in two seats each while CPI-M would field candidates in 55 constituencies.
“The matter is still under discussion and we are hopeful that senior leaders of both CPI-M and FB would settle the matter soon,” Das told IANS.