Tribal Congress candidates ask Sonia Gandhi to ammend party tickets

Shillong, Nov 15 (UNI) Three tribal Congress ticket aspirants in Meghalaya have urged Congress president Sonia Gandhi to make ammendments on the issue of party ticket allotment for the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state.

In a joint letter to Ms Gandhi, ticket aspirants F Syiemiong, Herman Nongrum and Sounder S Cajee expressed concern over the All India Congress Committee's (AICC) move to categorise Pynthorumkhrah, Mawprem and Laban as ''reserved seats'' where only non-tribals would be given Congress ticket to contest the 2008 Assembly elections.

''Such a move will have a damaging effect on the Congress as well as its image in the state, especially when most parties, including the NCP and the BJP, have given first preference to tribal candidates even from these three constituencies,'' the trio said in the letter.

The three leaders also claimed that the AICC had not issued any circular declaring their constituencies as ''reserved seats'', resulting in confusion among tribal party ticket aspirants.

''In the absence of such a circular, tribal candidates, including us, applied for party ticket. The question remains as to why the AICC leaders did not give prior information to ticket aspirants on the three constituencies being categorised as reserved seats,'' the letter added.

UNI