TN party to contest 20 seats in HP

Shimla, Oct 23 (UNI) Lok Paritran, a political party founded by former students of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), today announced its decision to contest assembly elections from Himachal Pradesh.

Addressing mediapersons here, party national secretary Chandrashekhar said after its initial success in Tamil Nadu assembly elections, the party has decided to contest from 20 assembly constituencies in the ensuing polls.

The party has base in seven states of Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra and Gujarat and aims to provide a political alternative at the national level, he said.

''We are going to field our candidates in the upcoming assembly elections. However, the number of seats to be contested will depend upon the party logistics and availability of good candidates,'' he added.

Mr Chandrashekhar said the party has a membership of 150 in Himachal Pradesh and it has started inviting applications for prospective candidates who would like to contest under its banner.

''Our emphasis will be on transparency and accountability in the system, besides improvement in the state's infrastructure,'' he said.

The party has first participated in Tamil Nadu assembly polls in 2006 where it contested seven seats, he added.

UNI