Agartala, March 3: Two Congress supporters died of cardiac complications in Tripura yesterday following heated debates about the outcome of the Assembly elections in the state.

Around 6 last evening, 70-year-old Nepal Chandra Das, who owns a bookstall in Udaipur town of South Tripura district, picked up an argument with friends about the Congress’s performance in the elections.

When the verbal duel was not enough, an excited Das fished out a piece of paper and jotted down the names of the Assembly constituencies that his party is likely to win and form the government.

Two hours into the debate, around 8pm, Nepal felt giddy and complained of chest pain.

He was rushed to Udaipur hospital, where he died of cardiac arrest within half-an-hour.

In Khowai town of West Tripura district that afternoon, 62-year-old Narayan Chakraborty sat discussing the possible outcome of the polls with friends and colleagues in the Karmachari Federation office.

“In the course of discussions around 3pm, Narayan Chakraborty felt an acute chest pain and was rushed to Khowai subdivisional hospital where he expired within 15 minutes,” said SDPO (Khowai) Dilip Debbarma. Chakraborty was the leader of the Congress’s employees’ front. The twin deaths have prompted the Congress to blame the unnecessary delay in declaration of results.

Tripura went to the polls on February 23 and the results will be declared on Friday.

“In a volatile state like Tripura, counting should have been taken up immediately after the polls,” said former Congress MLA and PCC spokesman Tapas De. Official sources in the election department, however, said “the entire schedule is decided by the Commission” and they are “helpless in this regard”.

Fair poll plea

Accusing the Congress of using government machinery in the run-up to the March 5 Assembly elections in Nagaland, the AGP today urged the Election Commission to ensure free and fair poll in the northeastern state, adds PTI.

Three AGP MPs — Sarbananda Sonowal, Arun Kumar Sarma and Kumar Dipak Das — alleged it was clear that the Congress had imposed President’s rule in Nagaland just before the Assembly polls only to “indulge in largescale rigging”.

“There have been numerous incidents where Congress candidates have taken the help of government officials and security personnel. Now, it is clear why the Congress-led central government had dismissed the democratically-elected Neiphiu Rio government just before the election,” Sonowal said.

The MPs demanded the EC to deploy adequate number of central security forces to ensure free and fair polling in the key northeastern state.

They appealed to the people of the state “to give a befitting reply” to the Congress and strengthen the regional forces for a prosperous and peaceful Nagaland.