In what could be a setback for the TVK government led by Vijay, the left parties - CPI and CPI(M)- announced on Sunday that they will contest the Tamil Nadu by-elections alone. The parties, however, will continue to support the C Joseph Vijay-led TVK government.
The CPI will fight from Dharapuram and the CPI (M) will try its luck from Maduranthakam in the October 6 bypolls. This will cause further split of the votes, with the battle now becoming a five-pronged one.
CPI State Secretary M Veerapandian has already made it clear that the Left's participation in the byelections are "imposed," and not a natural outcome.
This sudden decision by the Left has come as a huge political shock to Chief Minister Vijay and his party leadership. It has also raised serious doubts that the alliance will completely break down in the coming days.
Two major reasons are being cited as a reason for the Left sudden decision. Speculations are that the Left was unhappy about TVK’s potential plan to field Marakatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama in Maduranthakam and Dharapuram, respectively. Both were AIADMK legislators who joined the TVK. The Left has categorically stated that we can never support such selfish party-hopping politics and the tendency to mislead the people of the constituency.
CPI (M) state secretary M Shanmugam made his displeasure evident, hitting out at the legislators. "They cannot offer any reasonable justification for resigning within 20 days and joining TVK. It is very bad and wrong. We criticised right then that taking such a decision against the sentiments of the people was wrong,” he said.
He added that there was no denying the possibility that horse-trading took place. “Secondly, we, on behalf of the CPI (M), openly stated back then that this would only lead to unhealthy politics. Those criticisms still stand," he added.
The Left parties also have differences of opinion over people's issues. For the past few months, the Left has been harshly criticising the ruling TVK government over issues such as price hikes, power cuts, sanitation workers' protests, and farmers' demands. They have also staged protests against the government.
