CHENNAI: While Left parties have suffered electoral setbacks in Kerala and West Bengal, they had something to smile about in Tamil Nadu as the Communists increased their strength in the State assembly, winning 19 of the 22 seats they had contested.
While CPM won 10 of 12 seats, the CPI bagged nine out of 10, an increase of four seats over the 15 seats they won in 2006, when Communist parties joined the DMK alliance
Experts attribute this poll performance to anti-incumbency, a strong alliance, and a high voter turnout.
CPM State Secretary G Ramakrishnan said the success stemmed from the support of the allies and the groundwork done by cadre at the constituency-level.
CPM cadre said the victory could also be attributed to highest voter turnout ever in Tamil Nadu -- 77.8 per cent of the total electorate voted in the election surpassing the 76.57 per cent who voted in the 1967 elections.
Bheem Rao, the newly elected Maduravoyal MLA said it was in 1989, after the split in the Communist party, that the CPM had won all 15 of seats contested. And now the party had captured 10 seats, he said.
D Raja, national secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) said electoral adjustments were key to the Left success in the elections.
“There were also several issues like land grabbing, 2G scam, governance issues, the Sri Lankan crisis and the killing of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy which sparked public ire at the ruling alliance,” he added.