AGARTALA, August 15 (TIWN): A four member team of the Tripura Pradesh Congress would be leaving for New Delhi to meet AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi to flag the issue of ADC empowerment in the Parliament next week, a source in the PCC said here today. The Pradesh Congress asked general secretary and current head of the Tripura royal family Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma to lead the party in the coming ADC election of the state. Asked about his strategy, Pradyot Manikya today said that the party would go to the common people and seek their opinions to form the party manifesto. He said that he was aware of the request from PCC to lead the party in the ADC polls but said that the issue couldn’t be finalized before receiving instructions from the All India Congress Committee to this end.

The Congress general secretary, however, stated that he is looking at inviting all former allies who snapped ties with Congress in the past few years to make sure that the anti-left votes weren’t further divided. The Tripura Pradesh Congress received a number of setbacks in the past two years. A breakaway faction of the party joined hands with Trinamool Congress, some other leaders formed new parties of their own.

The INPT recently left the Congress camp and decided to contest the ADC election on their own. Speaking about his strategy to ensure an impenetrable Congress alliance ahead of the TTAADC election, Pradyot Manikya said, “I will speak to all who left the Congress alliance”. He said that the core demands of INPT and Congress for more power to the district council are the same.

“While I agree that this issue should have been done in the UPA regime, I will personally urge Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi to raise the issue of ADC empowerment in the Parliament”, he said. On rising BJP activity in Tripura, Pradyot Manikya said that the party wouldn’t be able to make a dent in the state. “BJP MP SS Ahluwaliaji, who won from Darjeeling constituency, couldn’t remember the demand of Gorkhaland which got him into the Parliament.

How can people expect them to remember demands of Tripura?” he quipped. Congress is the true alternative of CPI (M) and it would give the final battle to the lefts in the country, he said. The PCC general secretary today further said that the party would go for a unique model of manifesto creation this year.

“We will seek opinions of students, civil societies, NGOs, common people and other stakeholders and incorporate the major issues in the party manifesto for ADC election”, he said adding that Congress would lay stress on illegal encroachment, lawlessness and lack of infrastructure in the district council areas among other demands.