Congress names candidates for two Lok Sabha seats in Tripura

Agartala: The opposition Congress in Tripura has announced candidates for two Lok Sabha seats in the state, which is set to go to polls on March 11 and 18. Subal Bhowmick, who recently quit the BJP to join the Congress, will contest the election from West Tripura constituency, while Pragya Deb Burman, a member of the royal family in the state, has been fielded from East Tripura (St) seat, according to a press release issued by the party Friday.

Bhowmik, 57, returned to the Congress on March 19 after a five-year stint in the BJP. He had started out as a member of the grand old party in the seventies, but left it to form his own party - Tripura Pragatisheel Grameen Congress - in 2013. In 2008, Bhowmik had contested and won the Sonamura assembly constituency on a Congress ticket.

He joined the BJP in 2014, and was named the vice president of the party's state committee. Burman, a social worker and the elder sister of Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee president Pradyot Kishore Deb Burman, is a greenhorn in politics. Tripura Congress vice president Tapas Dey said both Bhowmik and Burman would file their candidature on March 24, the last day for submitting nominations.