The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the CPI have reached an agreement to contest the forthcoming elections in Seemandhra region together.
The Seemandhra leaders of the two parties held deliberations at the Makhdoom Bhavan, the CPI State headquarters, here on Monday where they arrived at a broad-based understanding on supporting each other in 40 constituencies. The two parties could not reach an agreement in respect of nine seats as the leaders insisted that they will field their respective nominees from there.
The nine constituencies where the parties could not reach an understanding are: Palakonda (Srikakulam), Salur (Vizianagaram), Vijayawada East (Krishna), Mangalagiri (Guntur), Ongole (Prakasam), Nellore Rural (Nellore), Tirupati (Chittoor), Kadapa (Kadapa) and Anantapur. The two parties have asked their district units to work on resolving the issues relating to these constituencies at their level, failing which the State leaderships would take up the matter.
The development assumes significance as the CPI and the CPI (M) parted ways in the Telangana region as the former joined hands with the Congress. The two Left parties have taken an in principle stand at the national level against having any kind of understanding – formal or informal – with the Congress and the BJP.
The stand taken at the national level notwithstanding, the CPI went ahead to forge a tie-up with the Congress in Telangana claiming that the region was a special case where the CPI vigorously fought for separate Statehood. As a result, the two parties, in a rare occurrence, entered the poll fray without a formal understanding between them. “The situation in the Seemandhra region is altogether different and we have decided to join forces in areas where we feel the Left has strong presence,” a leader engaged in the negotiations told The Hindu .
Interestingly, the CPI (M) representatives reportedly told their CPI counterparts about their efforts to join hands with the Jai Samaikyandhra Party headed by former Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy. The CPI leaders gave their go ahead for the tie-up provided it did not have any impact on the seats shared between the two Left parties.
