People's Democracy

No Pact Between Congress & CPI(M)

WHILE welcoming the Congress party’s decision to extend support to the CPI(M) candidate for Madurai corporation mayoral election in Tamil Nadu, CPI(M) state secretary N Sankariah said the Congress decision was unilateral and that there was no agreement or understanding between the two parties. He also denied that the CPI(M) was going to reciprocate the gesture.

Sankariah said so while addressing a press conference in Chennai on October 8. He was referring to the news item carried by The Hindu and some other vernacular papers on the 6th of this month. The item said that though the two parties might not have entered into any electoral pact, the decision of the Congress party to withdraw its candidate from the mayoral election race in Madurai was a clear pointer in that direction.

Refuting the story, Sankariah further said the CPI(M) has not so far taken any decision about whom to extend support in the mayoral elections in the other five corporations. The CPI(M) state committee had allowed the district units to decide the issue in regard to other constituencies like municipalities, district/union panchayat wards, etc, where the party is not contesting. A general guideline is that they would extend support to honest and pro-people candidates fielded by secular parties. Sankariah said there was no way for the candidates of the anti-people and communal National Democratic Alliance to receive the CPI(M)’s support. Also, there are seats where the main fight will be between the CPI(M) and the Congress.

Expressing similar views in a press interview at Madurai recently, the CPI(M) Central Committee member T K Rengarajan said when DMK, the so-called descendant of the Dravidian tradition, has generously allotted seats to the communal BJP and is abetting it to spread its tentacles in the state, the CPI(M) may not hesitate to welcome support from any quarter, even if it comes unsolicited. He and N Varadarajan, another member of the CPI(M) Central Committee, were in Madurai to introduce the party's candidate for the Madurai mayor post as well as 58 candidates contesting for Madurai corporation divisions. In a largely attended public meeting, the two leaders exhorted the party members to work for the victory of the party candidates. N Nanmaran (MLA) and P Mohan (MP) also addressed the gathering. (INN)