By IANS,
Agartala : Wrangling over sharing of seats between ruling Left Front partners CPI-M and RSP in Tripura has come to the fore ahead of the assembly polls next year.
The Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), a partner of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front, Friday said it would not accept the one seat allotted to it.
“Since 1978, when the Left Front government first came to power in Tripura, we had been putting up candidates in two assembly segments. But this time, CPI-M has offered us only one seat,” RSP leader Khiti Goswami told reporters.
“If CPI-M remains firm on its decision, we will soon discuss the issue in the party and take appropriate decision,” Goswami, a former West Bengal minister, said.
When contacted, CPI-M state secretary Bijon Dhar said the RSP was informed well in advance about the seat sharing.
“The situation is tough this time. However, we will give it a thought before the final announcement of the candidates of Left parties,” Dhar told IANS.
In the 60-member Tripura assembly, the CPI-M has 46 members while the RSP has two and the Communist Party of India one.
Opposition Congress has 10 members and ally Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura has one.
The assembly polls in the country’s lone Left-ruled state are scheduled in February 2013.