Agartala: Opposition CPIM on Sunday declared their candidates for the East Tripura parliamentary constituency and Ramnagar assembly constituency. Two former MLAs of the Left are going to contest from both the seats.
The party also threw its weight behind the Congress candidate Asish Kumar Saha for the West Tripura assembly constituency as per the seat-sharing agreement of the opposition INDIA bloc.
Former MLA from Kanchanpur assembly constituency Rajendra Reang has been pitted against BJP candidate from East Tripura Kriti Singh Debbarma, also the sister of royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarman.
Former MLA from Ramnagar Ratan Das will contest the seat. Both the CPIM leaders faced electoral defeats in the year 2018 when the BJP-IPFT alliance came to power. Rajendra Reang was defeated by IPFT working president and ex-MLA Prem Kumar Reang and Das tasted a defeat at the hands of late BJP MLA Surajit Datta.
Datta was re-elected from the constituency in 2023 and passed away within a few months of the elections. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is yet to announce its candidate for Ramnagar by-elections. CPIM state secretary Jitendra Choudhury urged all the secular political parties and general voters to vote for the CPIM candidate in order to restore democracy in Tripura.
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