Left support to Congress to be crucial in some LS seats
The support of the two Left parties — the Communist Party of India and the CPI (Marxist) — to the Congress in the forthcoming elections to the Lok Sabha is likely to play a crucial role in deciding the outcome in at least some constituencies, especially those in the coal belt.
The CPI resolved to extend support to all the Congress candidates in the fray, the CPI (M) has announced its support in all but one of the 17 constituencies. The CPI (M) is going on its own in the Bhongir Lok Sabha seat in spite of repeated requests from the Congress leadership seeking withdrawal of its candidate to avoid split in the votes.
“The CPI is too accommodative while the CPI (M) maintained its stance during the talks for extending support to the Congress candidates,” a political observer with Left leanings
Left party cadre participate in the campaign of the Congress at Lingampally in Hyderabad.
said. The CPI (M) is learnt to have decided to confine itself to a single constituency in the Lok Sabha elections as it did not want to repeat the mistake of contesting several seats without any success in the recent Assembly elections.
Senior leaders of the party who contested the elections could not get even 10,000 votes in the constituencies, primarily in Khammam and Nalgonda which were hitherto strongholds of the Left. The BRS for instance could win the Munugode bypoll in 2022 largely due to the
support of the Left parties indicating the considerable strength the parties have in the district.
The two parties are learnt to have opted for course correction in the all-important elections for Lok Sabha and decided to support the Congress to stop the advent of the BJP in these districts.
But questions are being raised on the transfer of the Left vote to the Congress in these districts especially with the CPI (M) candidate remaining in the fray in Bhongir Lok Sabha constituency.