Supporters of aspirant protest after reports of party ticket denial
A policeman tries to douse a fire in front of Trinamul Congress office in Imphal on Tuesday.
Imphal, Jan 11 : The supporters of a Trinamul Congress ticket aspirant, K. Mangi Singh, attacked the office of the Manipur unit of the party after reports that he was not given a promised ticket.
The supporters stormed the party office on the first floor of Hotel Excellency in Imphal shortly before noon, broke the glass panel of the main door, pulled down a poster of the party president and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and set party flags on fire.
No one was present at the party office at the time.
K. Mangi, the retired director of the State Planning Board, was seeking a Trinamul party ticket from Thongju Assembly constituency of Imphal East against Congress MLA and deputy chairman of State Planning Board, Bijoy Koijam.
The president of the Manipur unit of the party, Kim Gangte, on January 2 sent the first list of 18 candidates to Mukul Roy, the national general secretary of the party, for approval.
The party president released the list to reporters and it was published with Mangi Singh’s name.
Sources said the approved list reached here yesterday and Gangte could not announce the names of the candidates approved by the party high command because of some changes in the list.
Following reports that Mangi Singh’s name was not included in the approved list, the supporters took to the streets in protest.
When the party office was found closed, they damaged the glass panel of the main door and tore down the party signboard and flag.
The protesters also set on fire some flags at the median of Imphal-Airport road.
The police doused the fire and dispersed the protesters.
“They released the list with our candidate’s name on it and it was published. Now, we are told that somebody else has got the ticket. We had started campaigning as a candidate of the Trinamul Congress. This is nothing but killing the prospect of our candidate,” an angry worker shouted, as the police doused the fire on the road.
The last date of filing of nomination papers is tomorrow. The Trinamul is yet to announce the list of candidates.
“The non-announcement of party candidates has created lots of confusion among the ticket seekers and is hampering campaigning,” another aspirant said.
