Congress, Left leave no stone unturned in poll campaign

Agartala, Feb 14 (UNI) The election campaign in Tripura is at its peak with patriotic songs being played everywhere and street shows organised by the party workers besides huge public rallies.

The Congress has launched its poll campaign through mobile vehicles,-- decorated mini trucks draped with party flags and festoons.

Party leaders External Affairs Minister like Pranab Mukherjee, Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunshi, Heavy Industry Minister Santosh Mohan Dev and Minister of State at PMO Prithiviraj Chavan, along with 40 others, have been campaigning even in remote areas of the state for the February 23 Assembly polls.

According to AICC media manager Sanjoy Dutt, Chief Ministers of four sates --Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh-- will be campaigning in the state till last, while Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi will take part in the campaign process.

''We have hired two helicopters and 789 personal vehicles and set up makeshift offices at several places,'' Mr Dutt said, adding that the party was confident of coming to power in the state.

However, the Left Front has criticised such campaigns launched by the Congress and has already rounded off its first phase of campaign, barring the sitting MLAs assured of renomination.

State Information Minister Anil Sarkar, a well-known poet, has composed several folk songs in a bid to connect with the people.

Composed in a South Tripura dialect (language of Chittagong district of Bangladesh), a Mr Sarkar continues to act as a popular campaigner for his party.

CPI (M) politbureaumember Brinda Karat and senior leadedr Subhashani Ali, besides a dozen of Ministers from West Bengal of Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and senior party leaders from the state and other parts of the country have been campaigning against the misrule of the Congress in 1988 and its failure in other states.

The party has listed about 40 senior leaders, including General Secretary Prakash Karat, polit bureaumember Sitaram Yechuri and West Bengal Chief Minister Budhadeb Bhattacharjee.

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