Agartala, Sept. 7: The Tripura Ganatantrik Mancha, a breakaway faction of the CPM headed by expelled party MP Ajay Biswas, has decided to put up 12 candidates in the elections to the state Assembly next February.

Addressing newsmen here, Biswas said they would have nothing to do with the Congress, the BJP, and the Amra Bangali in terms of electoral alliances.

Biswas, a leading figure in Tripura’s employees’ movement, represented the CPM for two consecutive terms in the Lok Sabha in 1980 and 1984. He was expelled from the party in 1992 following differences with Nripen Chakraborty. He floated the Tripura Ganatantrik Manch in collaboration with dissident CPM leaders of West Bengal, Samir Putatunda and Saifuddin Chowdhury.

Biswas said the CPM was now mired in corruption and all kinds of unethical activities and it was high time that a political force came out in strong protest against its misdeeds. He asserted that neither the Left Front nor the Congress could provide any alternative to the people and his party could fulfil the role.

Biswas also referred to the deprivation of employees by the state government and misuse of funds for rural development.