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Tamil Nadu Left contests bypolls while supporting Vijay government
Tamil Nadu will hold by-elections in two Assembly constituencies on October 6.
The CPI will contest Dharapuram, and the CPI(M) will contest Madurantakam.
These parties still support Vijay’s government from outside the government.
However, they will campaign against TVK candidates in these two seats.
Some Left leaders say this plan is hard to explain and could waste votes.
Other leaders say the Left needs to show its own ideas directly to voters.
They also want more Left MLAs to raise public issues in the Assembly.
The elections will show how much support the Left has when it contests alone.
The contests will include the TVK, DMK, AIADMK-BJP combine, Left parties, and Naam Tamilar Katchi.
The CPI and CPI(M) will independently contest the October 6 by-elections in Dharapuram and Madurantakam.
Both parties continue to support Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s TVK government from outside the Cabinet.
The Left says it is contesting because it belongs to none of the three major political fronts.
Critics within the Left argue that contesting against TVK candidates while supporting the government is confusing and wasteful.
The five-way contests will also test the Left’s independent electoral strength beyond alliance vote-sharing.
- Who
- The CPI, CPI(M), TVK, DMK, AIADMK-BJP combine, and Naam Tamilar Katchi are contesting; the CPI and CPI(M) continue supporting Vijay’s government from outside.
- What
- The CPI and CPI(M) will independently contest by-elections in Dharapuram and Madurantakam while maintaining outside support for the TVK government.
- Where
- Madurantakam in Chengalpattu district and Dharapuram in Tiruppur district, Tamil Nadu.
- When
- The by-elections are scheduled for October 6; Left candidates are set to be announced on Tuesday.
- Why
- The Left says it is not part of any major front and wants to present its own ideas and increase its Assembly representation.
Contest Independently
Support TVK Candidates
Political consistency
Contest Independently
The Left says it is outside all three major fronts and must contest as an independent political force while continuing to support the government.
Support TVK Candidates
A senior CPI leader argues that supporting the TVK government while opposing its candidates is contradictory and difficult for ordinary voters to understand.
Purpose of the bypolls
Contest Independently
The Left says the elections are not about changing the government and that its candidates can strengthen the voice of people’s issues in the Assembly.
Support TVK Candidates
Critics describe the contests as a wasteful exercise because a Left victory could still result in the parties supporting the same TVK government.
Electoral strategy
Contest Independently
The Left wants to take its ideas directly to students and young people and demonstrate disagreements with the government’s economic policies, Assembly functioning, and focus on foreign investment.
Support TVK Candidates
Some Left leaders fear a standalone contest could expose the parties’ limited vote share, potentially showing them as a roughly 1% force.
Key facts
- Election date
- October 6
- Constituencies
- Madurantakam and Dharapuram
- Left candidates
- The CPI will contest Dharapuram; the CPI(M) will contest Madurantakam.
- Government support
- The CPI and CPI(M) support the TVK government from outside and are not part of its formal alliance.
- TVK candidates
- K Maragatham Kumaravel in Madurantakam and P Sathyabama in Dharapuram
- Number of contestants or fronts
- The contest is expected to be five-cornered: TVK, DMK, AIADMK-BJP, Left, and Naam Tamilar Katchi
- Assembly representation
- The Left currently has four MLAs, according to CPI(M) state secretary P Shanmugam.
Quotes
Senior CPI leader
Unnamed senior leader of the Communist Party of India
“Imagine that we are contesting and winning both seats; whom do we support then? The same TVK. Then why should we stand alone? Why don’t we support the TVK candidates? Why this complicated, not-explainable-to-common-man decision?”
indianexpress.com
“If two lakh votes are polled and we get only 1,000-2,000 votes, it means we become a 1% party”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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