Left parties to fight TN bypolls independently, to continue support to TVK govt

Chennai: The Left parties have decided to contest the upcoming Assembly bypolls in Madurantakam and Dharapuram independently, while continuing to extend outside support to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led Tamil Nadu government, party sources said on Sunday.

The CPI-M will field its candidate in Madurantakam, while the CPI will contest Dharapuram.

The decision was taken following separate meetings of the state leaderships of the two parties on Saturday.

CPI-M state secretary P Shanmugam told reporters in Tiruchy that the party had decided to enter the electoral contest in consultation with the CPI and CPI-ML Liberation.

He said the Left parties were not part of any of the three existing political alliances in Tamil Nadu.

Shanmugam said the Assembly bypolls were neither a general election nor a contest that would determine the survival of the TVK government. Therefore, the CPI-M and CPI had decided to contest one constituency each under the Left Front.

The candidates will be introduced at a meeting of the state secretaries of the CPI-M, CPI and CPI-ML Liberation in Chennai on September 15.

The deadline for filing nominations is September 16.

In Chennai, CPI state secretary M Veerapandian said the party’s state executive had resolved to maintain its earlier position of remaining outside all existing alliances.

He confirmed that the CPI would contest Dharapuram and the CPI-M Madurantakam.

Veerapandian noted that the CPI had offered outside support to the TVK government after the state Assembly election to respect the people’s mandate and prevent any attempt by the Governor or the Bharatiya Janata Party to exercise indirect control over the administration.

The CPI had neither joined the government nor entered into an alliance with TVK, he said.

Both leaders clarified that their decision to contest the Assembly bypolls would not result in the withdrawal of support to the state government.

Shanmugam said the Left parties differed with the TVK government on several matters, including parts of its Budget and the implementation of liberal and neo-liberal economic policies.

These issues would be raised during the poll campaign.

He also criticised the two TVK candidates who had won the constituencies on AIADMK tickets before resigning and joining TVK within 20 days.

The CPI-M will approach the parties outside the three major alliances for support.

Shanmugam also asked the state government to disclose details of foreign investments and provide greater financial, taxation and credit support to domestic and small-scale industries.

IANS