By IANS
Agartala : While the Election Commission has announced that Tripura assembly polls would be held on Feb 23, the main opposition Congress party is yet to finalise its list of candidates.
The Congress has so far received some 450 applications from party aspirants for the 60-member assembly polls.
“We would be scrutinising the applications and would send the list to (the party president) Sonia Gandhi for finalization in a day or two,” All India Congress Committee (AICC) observer Sanjoy Bapna told journalists here.
The Congress party has opened channels of communication with the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) for a pre-poll alliance.
“We have held four rounds of inconclusive discussions with the INPT,” said Congress leader Ratan Lal Nath.
The tribal-based party wants 16 seats while the Congress has agreed to allot a maximum of 10 or 12 seats.
Tribal leaders in the Congress have been rejecting the proposal of forging alliance with the INPT.
“(The) Congress would never be able to expand its base among the tribal people, if the party remains always dependent on the other tribal-based party,” said Jadumohan Tripura, president of the Congress’ tribal wing.
The Election Commission announced the poll schedule Monday. The stipulated notification for the polls would be issued on Jan 30.
Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswamy would visit the state Jan 17 to review the poll preparations.
State chief secretary Sashi Prakash said the commission has informed the state that the centre would send additional 200 companies of the Central Para-Military Force (CPMF) to provide security for the elections.