By IANS
Agartala : The Congress Saturday suspended two of its senior leaders in Tripura for contesting against the party’s official nominees for the Feb 23 assembly elections.
“Following the recommendations of the Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee, the All India Congress Committee was forced to suspend these two leaders as they violated the party discipline by contesting in the polls,” said Samir Ranjan Burman, state Congress president.
Abdul Matin Choudhury and Premtosh Nath had defied the party’s orders by filing their nominations for the Feb 23 assembly elections, which prompted the leadership to suspend them.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission Saturday suspended a professor of Tripura University, a school headmaster and two government schoolteachers for violating the election laws.
“There are reports that the university professor took part in the campaign for the Congress here recently while the other teachers closed their schools to accommodate political party meetings in the school premises,” said G.S.G. Ayyangar, chief electoral officer of Tripura.
A local court in south Tripura Friday sentenced a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate to six months of imprisonment and fined him Rs.2,000 for assaulting a neighbour in connection with a land dispute in December 2005.
“The man can contest the election and may appeal to the higher court against the lower court verdict,” Ayyangar said.
Two Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leaders were also arrested for illegal collection of 72 Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) in north Tripura.
“The duo can be convicted and jailed for six months and fined up to Rs.5,000 for this crime. However, the matter is under process,” Ayyangar added.