UPA-Left split set to change equations in south

The immediate fallout of the UPA-Left separation at the national level could be visible in the distant south as the CPM...

The immediate fallout of the UPA-Left separation at the national level could be visible in the distant south as the CPM is said to be weighing the options of withdrawing its outside support to the M Karunanidhi-led Government in Tamil Nadu.

There could also be a political realignment of sorts in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. While the Telugu Desam is keen to have an electoral understanding with the CPM and CPI, both the parties are keeping their cards close to their chest but at the same time do not rule out the option of doing business with Chiranjeevi. The cine star is planning to launch a political outfit soon.

The state leadership of the CPM in Tamil Nadu is learnt to be in favour of ending the present arrangement with the Karunanidhi Government as the DMK was on the other side of the nuclear divide but the central leadership has not yet taken a view on the matter, sources said.

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State CPM leaders argue that after the divorce with the Congress and UPA at the Centre it will be difficult to explain to the rank and file the continuance of support to the Democratic Progressive Alliance Government given the fact that the Congress is its main constituent.

The picture has changed after the trust vote is the refrain among some of the state CPM leaders. The Left party has eight Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu and its pullout, if it happens, will not affect the stability of the DMK Government.

Sources in the party said general secretary Prakash Karat had indicated to Karunanidhi when they met in Chennai last month that the CPM-DMK relationship could come under strain in the event of Left withdrawal of support to the UPA and the Government going ahead with the deal.

Though Karat had urged the DMK patriarch to intervene to resolve the crisis, he refused to do so. Interestingly, Karunanidhi who generally meets Left leaders whenever he is in the national Capital did not meet any of them when he was here on Wednesday. He left for Chennai on Thursday.

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While a clear picture is yet to unfold, Karunanidhi on Thursday said the snapping of ties between the Left parties and the UPA and the coming together of Left and UNPA would have no impact on the ties between the DMK and Left parties in the state.

In Andhra Pradesh, both the CPM and CPI are open to some electoral arrangement with Chiranjeevi depending on his party’s programmes and policies.

“Let him announce the party. We will then get to know what are its policies and we will take a decision after that,” CPI deputy general secretary D Sudhakar Reddy told The Indian Express.

While the Telugu Desam is hoping to cobble up a grand coalition including the Left and BSP to take on the Congress in Andhra Pradesh, Chiranjeevi’s party could play a spoilsport to its plans.

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Sources in the CPM said the party wanted to contest in more number of seats this time round as it felt that the mass struggles undertaken by it, especially for distribution of house sites and cultivable land to rural and urban poor, had enabled it to reach to wider and newer sections of people.

The party says it has a presence in at least 120 Assembly segments. While last time it contested in 15 seats and won 14, this time it wants to double the figure. Senior leaders said they had not taken a decision as yet and were waiting for Chiranjeevi to launch his party. “There is no compulsion of going with the TDP,” a senior Left leader said.

“While there is no question of going with the Congress, it is not sure whether the TDP will be able to give us more number of seats,” a CPM leader said.

Both the CPM and CPI had entered into an alliance with the Congress in the last elections but it fell through midway after differences over land distribution and several other issues cropped up.