The Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s Tripura unit said Tuesday that it has received 129 applications from prospective candidates for the coming Assembly polls in the state and that it has forwarded a shortlist to the party high-command in West Bengal. It said it would announce the final list soon. The TMC has so far not announced a formal alliance and said it would contest 60 seats alone. However, at the press conference at the party headquarters in Agartala, TMC state president Pijush Kanti Biswas said the party was “keeping its doors open”, adding that if “there are appropriate scopes of tying up with someone, it might enter intoan alliance”. Biswas told reporters: “We have received 129 applications from candidates who have expressed interest to contest across the state. After scrutinising it, we have forwarded the preliminary list to the high command.” Asked about parameters used to shortlist the candidates, Biswas said “education of prospective candidates, their gender, caste and community identities, winning possibly, integrity, dedication, public acceptability and possibilities of becoming turncoats” were considered. In the Assembly bypolls last year, the party had performed poorly and secured less than 3 per cent of the vote share as against the 16 percent vote share it got in the civic body polls in 2021. The party dropped its state president Subal Bhowmik for the “failure”. The party’s progress since will be tested in the Assembly polls scheduled for February 16. Speaking on the issue, senior TMC leader and state in-charge Rajiv Banerjee said: “The BJP too had less than 3 per cent vote share prior to the 2018 Assembly elections, but they succeeded in toppling the 25-year old Left regime and formed their government. Similarly, the TMC has the potential of forming a government on its own.” He added that TMC supremo and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would be visiting Tripura on February 6 and will join a padyatra and address a public meeting in Agartala. “The party is hoping to see her visit instill hopes among people,” he said. During the visit, the TMC supremo is likely to visit the Tripurasundari Temple at Udaipur in Gomati district and the dargah at Sonamura in the Sepahijala district. TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is scheduled to visit Tripura on February 3 to address public meetings at Sonamura and Belonia in South Tripura.
