Chennai, November 26
The unity of the Left parties, the CPM and the CPI, suffered a severe jolt in Tamil Nadu today, with the CPI choosing to take a different path and announcing support for the principal opposition, the AIADMK, in the December 19 bypoll for two constituencies.
CPI leaders, including R Nallakannu and state secretary D Pandian, met AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa at her residence and conveyed the party’s support to her.
In a joint press meet a few days ago, leaders of the CPI and the CPM had said that they were deliberating the strategy of the Left parties for the byelections, raising speculations that a joint decision would be taken by them.
However, the CPI’s unilateral announcement has made it clear that a joint decision was not possible and the CPI has decided to pursue an independent line, ignoring the CPM’s objections.
The CPM, which was furious with Jayalalithaa for not allocating the seats it wanted when it joined hands with the AIADMK in the Lok Sabha elections, was not keen on supporting her party candidates now. The party sought the industrial belt of Tiruppur, but was allocated Madurai, where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s son Alagiri contested. The CPM was not happy with the allocation of the Kanyakumari seat also.
Immediately, after the elections, the CPM charged that the AIADMK leadership’s approach was responsible for the front’s poor performance. The AIADMK hit back, asking how the CPM lost in West Bengal and Kerala, where it did not have alliance with the AIADMK.
An angry CPM persuaded the CPI, to ignore the AIADMK’s boycott call and contest the byelections to five constituencies in Tamil Nadu. The two parties failed to make an impact in the elections and the results only revealed that their support base had shrunk. This seems to have prompted the CPI to join the AIADMK alliance again.
In Tamil Nadu politics, the CPI and the CPM had notable differences in their ideological approach to major issues like the Sri Lankan Tamils conflict and the Mullaiperiyar Dam row. The CPI is part of the Sri Lankan Tamils Protection Movement along with Vaiko’s MDMK, while the CPM had ignored the issue, raising strong criticism from Tamil nationalist groups that the party was “pro-Sinhalese and anti-Tamil”.
As the CPM continues to alienate itself from the people, due to its insensitive approach to the Lankan Tamils issue, the CPI seems to have charted its own electoral course at an opportune moment.
