CHENNAI: The Left parties have decided to make a strong push in the October 6 bye-election to the Madurantakam (SC) and Dharapuram (SC) Assembly constituencies, as it’s after a long gap that they are contesting without any alliance with major political parties.
The CPM has fielded P Suganthi in Madurantakam, while the CPI has fielded P Lakshmanan in Dharapuram. Both candidates have been involved in protests and campaigns on issues concerning the public and Dalits.
“Our campaign theme is ‘Meet the people and turn them towards Left ideology’. We will explain to the people that the Left can provide solutions to the pressing issues they face,” CPI state secretary M Veerapandian told TNIE.
The CPI plans to hold at least four street-corner meetings at each of the 320 polling booths in Dharapuram. The party plans to organise more than 1,000 street-corner meetings and reach nearly 30,000 voters. “Our main focus is to meet the people directly.
We will explain the present political situation in Tamil Nadu, the issues affecting people and why they should support the Left candidates,” he said. CPI workers from different parts of the state have already reached Dharapuram, while folk artistes, including folk singers attached to the party’s cultural wing, are also taking part in the campaign.
CPM state secretary P Shanmugam said the party would also focus on direct interaction with voters in Madurantakam.
“Meeting the people is our main goal. We will speak to them directly, raise the issues affecting them and explain the reasons behind these problems and the possible solutions,” he said. Around 30 state-level leaders, including K Balakrishnan, G Ramakrishnan and TK Rangarajan, former MPs and MLAs, and sitting MLAs and MPs, are expected to campaign in Madurantakam, Shanmugam said.
“Hundreds of CPM functionaries from the northern districts have already reached Madurantakam and started campaigning in their allotted areas,” Kannan, who is in charge of the Madurantakam campaign, said. Folk teams will also be part of the campaign. K Pragadheeswaran, who runs the Pudugai Boobalam folk team, said political satire and awareness songs would be used to highlight people’s issues. Other folk teams will also participate in the campaign, Pragadheeswaran added.
