CPI-M releases list of six more LS candidates

CPI(M) today released a list of six more candidates for LokSabha polls in Bihar, Maharashtra and Punjab, taking the total number of its nominees to 94.

 The party would contest four seats -- Ujiarpur, Darbhanga, West Champaran and Khagaria -- in Bihar. It also announced one more name each in Maharashtra and Punjab, taking the totalnumber of its candidates to four and three in the two statesrespectively.

In Bihar, Ramdeo Verma would contest from Ujiarpur, Hriday Narayan Yadav from Darbhanga, Prabhuraj Narayan Rao from West Champaran and Jagadish Chandra Basu from Khagaria.

Com. D B Naik

In Maharashtra, CPI(M) has fielded D B Naik, a KisanSabha activist, from Hingoli, besides contesting from Palghar (ST),Thane, Dindori(ST) and Nashik, the names for which weredeclared earlier.

The  party has put up educationist Joginder  Singh Aulakh from Sangrur. It is also contesting the LokSabha seats of Ludhiana and Anandpur Sahib.

CPI(M) is committed for reconstruction of Telangana

The CPI(M) had taken an ideological stand against State bifurcation, but now that the State is divided, the party does not want to dwell on the past. Elections are the mandate for the future and the CPI(M) is committed for reconstruction of Telangana. 

Still hopeful of non-Congress and BJP alliances, CPI(M) Telangana State committee secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram says that their intention is not to let BJP and Congress to consolidate. He unveils the party’s electoral strategy in an interview with The Hindu.

When you are open to alliances with other political parties, why can’t the two Left parties work together and consolidate your vote share and thereby electoral prospects?

All the Left front parties, including CPI,CPI(M), Forward Block, Revolutionary Socialist Party at the all-India level resolved to work on a common principle of anti BJP and anti-Congress plank. We are bound by the same principle in Telangana and Andhra regions. But the CPI deviated from this principle in Telangana by going with Congress, as they both supported bifurcation. But we are still optimistic of working with CPI if it reconsiders its truck with Congress.

Are you seriously considering an alliance with Telangana Rashtra Samithi ?

Even if we forge an alliance with TRS, it is in conformity with our all India principle. TRS has no truck with Congress. TDP is more or less allied with the BJP.

But then there is speculation that the TRS may have post-poll alliance with BJP?

It is not for us to think which party would go which way after the elections. All regional parties are opportunistic and play their cards in what they think to the best interests of their region. Our paramount interest now is not to let BJP and Congress consolidate their vote share. If parties which seek anti-Congress and anti-BJP vote from people and go back on that after elections, they will be accountable to their voters.

You have only one legislator in the present Assembly. What is your strategy to increase your strength?

This is a difficult time for us, but we are working doubly hard to widen our base. Despite Telangana agitation, we could consolidate and expand our base among panchayats, anganwadi workers, tribal population by campaigning for implementation of Forest Act, SC, ST sub-plan. We did take a stand against bifurcation and the elections followed soon after division. Past is past. Congress and TRS are seeking votes for achieving Telangana. It’s time to look ahead. We have a clear strategy for comprehensive development of Telangana with social justice.

How many seats you propose to contest ?

We have already announced candidates for 17 Assembly and three Lok Sabha seats. We are also interested in Mahbubabad LS seat. But if there is alliance with TRS, CPI, then these seats may come down.

What is your election manifesto for Telangana?

We have a common manifesto for entire country. But we will bring out an additional booklet for Telangana with focus on welfare, social justice, comprehensive development and cooperation between the two Telugu states for mutual advantage. Telangana would need more welfare spending . Social justice does not mean giving one chief minister post or MP seat. Extending health, education, irrigation, drinking water to the downtrodden in remote areas alone will bring equity and social justice.

Is Left ideology losing its sheen with parties like Lok Satta and Aam Admi Party taking the new political space?

On the contrary, Left parties will play a significant role as people’s frustration and disenchantment with economic reforms is evident now. The 2008 economic downturn, declining growth, increase in unemployment, price rise made people question the present policies. Left parties know how to channel people’s anger to get tangible policy corrections.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)

CPI announces candidates for nine constituencies in Tamil Nadu

The State unit of the CPI on Wednesday announced candidates for nine constituencies, including three reserved constituencies, for the Lok Sabha polls.As per the list released by the party’s State secretary, D. Pandian, sitting MP P. Lingam, elected from Tenkasi Reserved constituency in the 2009 polls will again enter the fray from there. The party has fielded G. Palanisami, a four-time MLA and the party’s former Legislative Party leader, in Nagapattinam (Reserved) constituency. Senior leader K. Subbarayan, who was elected from the Coimbatore constituency in the 2004 polls, will contest from the Tirupur constituency. Former MLA A.S. Kannan is the candidate for Tiruvallur (Reserved) constituency. For Tuticorin, the party has fielded its district secretary A. Mohanraj. 

Ku. Balasubramaniam, a leader of the Tamil Nadu Government employees, is the candidate for Cuddalore constituency. S. Krishnan and R.D. Umamaheswari will contest from Sivaganaga and Ramanathapuram constituencies. R. Viswanathan, a minister in the R.V. Janakiraman’s cabinet in Puducherry, is the candidate for Puducherry.

CPI(M) releases candidates list for Tamil Nadu

 

The CPI(M) announced candidates for nine Lok Sabha constituencies it will be contesting in Tamil Nadu. The candidates include two women Com. U. Vasuki for Chennai North and S. Tamilselvi for Thanjavur — and two Dalit candidates. CPIM  state secretary G. Ramakrishnan said his party had fielded a Dalit candidate K. Samuel Raj for Virudhunagar general constituency. For Villupuram reserved constituency the candidate is G. Anandan. The party has renominated P.R. Natarajan from the Coimbatore constituency. He won it in the 2009 polls. A.V. Bellarmine, who won the Nagercoil constituency in the 2004 election, is again contesting from Kanayakumari constituency. The candidate for Madurai is P. Vikraman. The candidates for Tiruchi and Dindigul are S. Sridhar and N. Pandi respectively. 

CPIM and CPI to contest 9 Seats each in Tamilnadu

CPI(M) and the CPI on Friday announced they would contest nine seats each in the  2014 Lok Sabha elections scheduled for April 24th in Tamil Nadu and decided against supporting the AIADMK, the BJP, the DMK and the Congress in the remaining 22 seats.

The CPI(M) would contest from Coimbatore, Madurai, Kanyakumari, Chennai North, Dindigul, Trichy, Virudhunagar, Villupuram and Thanjavur constituencies.

CPI state Secretary D. Pandian and CPI (M) State Secretary G. Ramakrishnan told the press in Chennai after both the parties identified the seats. Senior CPI Leader Com. A Nallakannu and CPIM CC Member T K Rangarajan were also present during the press conference.

The CPI would contest from Tenkasi, Nagapattinam, Puducherry, Tiruppur, Sivaganga, Dharmapuri, Cuddalore, Tiruvallur and Tuticorin constituencies, they said.

Replying to a query, Mr. Pandian and Mr. Ramakrishnan said the Left parties would consider supporting other parties, including AAP, whoever approached them. While the CPI(M) would release its candidates list on March 16, the CPI would release its list the following day, they said. Both the parties would be expanding their presence in this election contesting together 18 seats as against three each in 2009. The CPI and the CPI(M), which had fought the last election in alliance with the AIADMK, won one seat each.

LDF Kerala announces candidates for Loksabha elections

CPI(M) Kicks-off Election Campaign For Ranchi

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has kicked-off the campaign trail for its candidate for Ranchi Lok Sabha seat, Com. Rajinder Singh Munda, on March 11th, with four large worker meetings. These meetings were held in four of the seven assembly segments Hatia, Silli and Khijri.

On March 10th, a large workers meeting was held in Ranchi city, where Comrade Brinda Karat, member, Polit Bureau,  addressed the hundreds of CPI(M) workers attended the meeting. The meeting was attended by candidate Com. Rajinder Singh Munda and State Secretary Com G.K. Bakshi. Slogans like 'Congress Hatao, BJP Harao', 'Ranchi Mein CPI(M) Lao' resounded at the meetings when Com. Brinda Karat said Jharkhand is one of the richest States in minerals and its people are the  poorest.

“Since the State was formed in 2000,  the Congress and the BJP have taken turns to rule themselves or through equally corrupt proxies. In 12 years there have been nine chief ministers Presidents rule imposed thrice. Jharkhand has become 'lootkhand',” Com Brinda Karat said.

Com. Rajinder Singh Munda

Today a new chapter has been added with Mamta Bannerjee’s TMC bringing chit fund money to buy MLAs and manipulate defections.  “CPI(M) is fighting to clean up this corruption through alternative politics and alternative policies,” she added.

The meetings were attended by workers from different sectors, a large number of whom were construction workers. 

A big group of lawyers were also present. In Ranchi, parties like CPI, Marxist Coordination Committee and RSP have pledged their support.

Left parties to contest 5 seats in Haryana

CPI (M) is contesting three Lok Sabha seats in Haryana while CPI is contesting on two seats. Those being contested by CPI (M) are Sirsa(SC), Hisar and Bhiwani Mohindargarh while CPI those of the CPI are Karnal and Ambala(SC).

In the dissolved Lok Sabha, out of total 10 seats Congress had 9 and the lone Hisar seat was held by Kuldip Bhishnoi son of Late Sh. Bhajan Lal, former Chief Minister.
Brief profile of the three seats:
 

There are a total of 10 Lok Sabha Seats in Haryana and each Lok Sabha seat is comprised of 9 assembly segments.
 

All three seats being contested by CPI (M) fall in the North Westren Haryana border adjoining. Rajanthan districts of Ganga Nagar, Hanumangarh, Churu and Sikar on the South west side while that of Punjab on the North. The three seats are spread over 6 districts of Haryana viz. Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Jind and Mohindergarh. Party and mass fronts have a comparatively better presence in these regions due to round the year activities and campaigns on issues of the farmers, agricultural workers, workers of the unorganized sectors, on other livelihood issues as well as on the social issues pertaining to caste oppression, violence against women or criminalization.

Sirsa: 

Com. Ram Kumar Bahbalpuria

It is a scheduled caste reserve seat. Dr. Ashok Tanwar of the Congress is the sitting MP who has since been appointed president of the Pradesh Congress. It has fairly developed agriculture due to green revolution. Scheduled castes are over 25 percent average here and there are very acute disparities between rich farmers and landless agricultural labourers. Party has contested this seat in 2009 with Com. Ram Kumar Bahbalpuria as its candidate who got 20,000 votes and he is re-nominated this time also. Com. Ramkumar is member of party state secretariat and President of AIAWU state committee. He has been leading several struggles on local issues like MNREGA, PDS, BPL cards, power, water etc. Five assembly segments are under Sirsa district, three in Fatehabad while one is in Jind district.

Hisar: 

Phool Singh Sheokand

7 assembly segments are in Hisar district, one each in Bhiwani and Jind districts. The seat is held by Mr. Kuldip Bishnoi who is son of late Ch. Bhajan Lal who was famous for organizing defections and he had launched a separate outfit Haryana Jan Hit Congress (HJC) after defecting from congress and this party has an alliance with BJP in this election.
 

Our party has also contested this seat twice in 1996 and 1999 with Phool Singh Sheokand as its nominee. He has been renominated this time as well. Phool Singh Sheokand is a party state committee member and vice-president of AIKS Haryana. Sheokand is ex-president of Sarv Karmchari Sangh and led many popular struggles before he left his job in 1996. He has also been SFI state president. A part of the constituency has witnessed worst kind of caste violence against dalits by a section of the rabid caste elements; the Mirchpur infamous episode took place here. Bhagana and Dabra are other villages where atrocities on dalits took place. In all these excesses our party and mass fronts had actively sided with the aggrieved families.
Party and mass fronts, AIKS, AIAWU, CITU, JMS and other organizations are very active in Hisar region round the year.

Bhiwani-Mohindergarh: 

Master Sher Singh

5 assembly seats are in Bhiwani while four of them fall in Mohindergarh district. Our party had contested Bhiwani (prior to delimitation) in 1999 when late Comrade Prabhat Singh was the candidate. This constituency has a fairly good base of Kisan Sabha with more than 50,000 membership of AIKS which is a popular organization in parts of Bhiwani for successfully launching struggles for compensation of the frequently crop losses due to natural calamities. A large part of the constituency bordering Rajasthan is rain deficient and also lacks irrigation network.

Trade union front has been active against stone mining closure rendering several hundred families to the brink of hunger. Master Sher Singh president of Haryana Kisan Sabha is CPI (M) candidate from this seat. He had been a popular leader of the Sarva Karamchari Sangh and teachers union before his retirement.

Party has been very active in this region on various local issues including social issues.

CPI(M) to focul on Livelihood issues of the people in Haryana

CPI(M) will focus its election campaign in Haryana on the livelihood issues of the people for which the party and the mass fronts led by party leaders have been fighting tirelessly round the year. Stating this CPM Central secretariat member Mr. Nilotpal Basu emphasised that toiling people had very high stakes in the outcome of the forthcoming parliament elections. He said that the game of defections was at its worst and there was hardly anything to choose between Congress and BJP.

When the Congress was losing ground with greater speed the BJP has an agenda of taking the country on the path adopted by Pakistan. He reminded that the pitiable condition of democracy 

was mainly due to the theocratic state which gave birth to fundamentalism. Such a path was not acceptable to the people of our country.

Party state secretary Inderjit Singh claimed that CPM and the CPI were the only parties in Haryana who were upholding value based principled politics and never indulged into opportunism and ne ver played identity politics based on caste or religious sentiments. We have rather forged unity of the people based on workers and farmers and defended the rights of marginalized and weaker sections when attacked by the dominant vested interests.

The party has decided to observe 23 March Shahid Diwas as a day against imperialism and communalism against which Bhagat Singh and his compatriots were a glorious symbol.
The party has decided to adopt its election campaign by going house to house for seeking support in the for a policy change and not alone the leaders. Dates for filing nominations of its candidates have been fixed for 19, 20 and 21 respectively for Sirsa, Hisar and Bhiwani- Mohindergarh seats respectively. Another rally of the Left parties is scheduled to be held at Karnal on 16 March. It will be addressed by CPM leader Hannan Mollah and CPI leader Amarjeet Kaur.

Keezhvenmani Martyrs Memorial in Tamil Nadu inaugurated

Com. Prakash Karat, General Secretary, CPI(M) inaugurated a memorial Centre in the honour of 44 agricultural workers burnt alive by landlords in 1968 in Keezhvenmani, Nagapattinam District, Tamil Nadu, in the presence of thousands of people and veteran communist leaders of the state today.

Speaking on the occasion, Prakash Karat charged the UPA Government for its role in some of the worst corruption scandals that the country has witnessed, not to mention the enormous burden imposed on the people of the country through unprecedented price rise. He sharply attacked the BJP and Narendra Modi and said that they pose a serious threat with their communal and divisive platform and they should be rejected.

On electoral developments in Tamil Nadu, he mentioned that the AIADMK had joined the anti communal convention of non Congress secular parties in Delhi last October. Subsequently the AIADMK had declared its alliance with the Left parties for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. However the AIADMK unilaterally broke off its alliance with the Left parties. If anyone thinks that by bypassing and marginalizing the Left parties,a credible alternative to the BJP and the Congress can be presented, they are mistaken.

Karat declared that the Left parties in Tamil Nadu will unitedly fight the elections together against neo liberal policies, communalism and corruption. The Left will continue to play a central role in evolving pro-people alternative policies in the Centre and in the States. CITU State Secretary Com. A Sounderrajan presided over the function. CPIM Nagapattinam DC secretary com. A V Murukayyan welcomed the gathering. Veteran leader Com. N Sakarayya, K Virayyan, Tamil Nadu state secretary Com. G Ramakrishnan, CC Member Com. T K Rangarajan also addressed the meeting. CPIM Thiruvarur DC Secretary Com. Nagarajan said the vote of thanks.