AGARTALA, August 18 (TIWN): The Tripura Pradesh Congress appointed a number of leaders and party office bearers to monitor the party’s membership drive in all blocks with the periphery of organizational districts scheduled to commence from August 20, party sources said.

A highly placed source in the PCC said that district congress presidents would be placed in charge of concerned blocks under their jurisdiction. The PCC top brass has requested the leaders to abstain from resorting to fraudulent measures as allegedly found in several previous cases.

Asked about the issue, PCC working president Ashish Kumar Saha said that the membership drive will be started on August 20 as a sign of respect to the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The membership drive would concluded on December 31, Saha said. A separate source today said that the membership drive is apprehended to meet fatal outcomes as most sitting MLAs of the party were denied important charges in the process save Biswabandhu Sen in Dharmanagar organizational district.

Congress currently operates nine organizational districts among which PCC presidents and leaders deserted the party for Trinamool Congress and BJP at Sonamura, Bishalgarh and Sadar. None of the three organizational districts were put under charge of any sitting MLA; rather close aides of Opposition leader Sudip Roy Barman were set in charge, the source claimed.

The source further stated that the party hasn’t given any specific instructions about funds for the coming ADC election. “The party didn’t give special election funds for local self-government elections in the past. Funds weren’t allowed in the last three-tier Panchayat election as well”, he said adding that the issue created confusion among the party leaders about election expense management at large.