Tamil Nadu’s communist parties ready to endorse Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister candidate for 2019

A question had arisen in the minds of political observers and members of communist parties in the State soon after Stalin, DMK president, proposed the name of Rahul Gandhi as PM candidate.
Rahul Gandhi. (Photo | PTI)
Rahul Gandhi. (Photo | PTI)

CHENNAI :  Though the National leaders are claiming that the prime ministerial candidate will be decided after the counting of the votes of the parliamentary elections, the leaders of communist parties of Tamil Nadu, are ready to endorse MK Stalin’s proposal of Rahul Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate of the opposition alliance.

A question had arisen in the minds of political observers and members of communist parties in the State soon after Stalin, DMK president, proposed the name of Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition alliance, at the meeting held to unveil M Karunanidhi’s statue here on Sunday. He made a request to the leaders of all the political parties present at the dais, including communist parties, to extend their support to his proposal.

It may be noted, Sitaram Yechuri, general secretary of CPM, had said after his meeting with Stalin on November 13 at the latter’s residence that the prime minister should be elected only by the elected MPs. “We need not to discuss the prime ministerial candidate before the election,” he had said.

A similar view was also echoed by Sudhakara Reddy, CPI general secretary.

K Balakrishnan, state secretary of CPM, spoke to Express, “There is no problem to share the dais with Congress and carry out a campaign along with them as we want to unseat BJP for the welfare of the country. Our ultimate aim is to unseat BJP in the next election.

Hence we will work together with DMK and Congress in Tamil Nadu,” he iterated.

R Mutharasan, state secretary of CPI, told Express, “MK Stalin has proposed his wish after considering the gravity of the political climate of the state and the nation. And it is a ground reality too. Hence, there is no problem to work on this agenda in Tamil Nadu. In order to unseat BJP, we have to get together to face the parliamentary elections,”  he said.

T Koodalarasan, a veteran journalist, said, “The people of Tamil Nadu always tend to listen to the voices of Dravidian majors and they (Dravidian parties) only carry forward the alliance regardless of who their alliance partners are. Hence, communist parties cannot oppose MK Stalin’s decision even if they don’t like it.” 

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