From the rough and tumble of agitations to electoral arena, life has not been a smooth ride for senior CPI leader K. Narayana, who is set to file his nomination from the Khammam LS seat on April 9. The senior leader, often in news for his off-the-cuff remarks against rival parties, sees no big difficulty in jumping into the fray. He is not new to contesting the polls as he had unsuccessfully contested for Tirupati Assembly seat in 1999 against the likes of Ch. Krishnamurthy of TDP when the Vajpayee wave had tilted the fortunes of many a candidate. Here are the excerpts of a brief interaction with Dr. Narayana.
The CPI is not known to field its ideologues holding major party posts to fight a direct election. Why is the exemption this time around
The practice of not fielding State party office bearers has been introduced for convenience, it’s not a rule. The State secretary is entrusted with the responsibility of organisational matters that also involve party’s day-to-day affairs. It will be difficult for him to look after the party affairs and concentrate on elections. But, the central leadership gave its go ahead for my contest from Khammam as my post as the State secretary ceases to exist after June 2, when the State will be officially bifurcated. There should be nothing objectionable in this regard.
At a time when the CPI(M) is going all-out against any alliance with the Congress or the BJP, do you see any scope for cooperation from the Marxists who form a sizeable chunk in Khammam district or will they work against you
We have requested the CPI(M) leadership against giving scope for direct confrontation among the Left parties. Though we fought the elections in alliance with the Congress in 2004, the CPI(M) said it will be difficult to enter into an alliance given the Congress dimension involved in the contest. I wanted the CPI(M) to give special consideration in this particular instance as I am the State secretary as of now and they assured to look into the matter. We have to wait and see.
Congress aspirants, including some senior leaders, are opposed to giving the seat to the CPI. Do you see any problem in their cooperating with your party
The Congress is a national party. It’s the party leadership that has taken a decision and all the leaders should fall in line with their high command’s decision. We are hopeful that the Congress leaders will support us en masse.
The TDP too has a significant presence in the Khammam district. Does it have any bearing on your prospects
The TDP was a major force in the past. But the party’s base has eroded considerably because of its political vacillation on separate Telangana issue. At the same time, the party had suffered some setbacks in the recent months in the district and this has an adverse impact on the party’s strength.
The TRS is claiming that its strength has increased considerably over the past few years. How will you tackle the situation as TRS will also be a tough opponent to deal with
The TRS may have gained some strength. But it is not that strong when it comes to Khammam. We have requested the TRS leadership to adopt special tactics this time around at least in case of the CPI as we have been in the forefront of the struggles.
The CPI is not known to field its ideologues holding major party posts to fight a direct election. Why is the exemption this time around
The practice of not fielding State party office bearers has been introduced for convenience, it’s not a rule. The State secretary is entrusted with the responsibility of organisational matters that also involve party’s day-to-day affairs. It will be difficult for him to look after the party affairs and concentrate on elections. But, the central leadership gave its go ahead for my contest from Khammam as my post as the State secretary ceases to exist after June 2, when the State will be officially bifurcated. There should be nothing objectionable in this regard.
At a time when the CPI(M) is going all-out against any alliance with the Congress or the BJP, do you see any scope for cooperation from the Marxists who form a sizeable chunk in Khammam district or will they work against you
We have requested the CPI(M) leadership against giving scope for direct confrontation among the Left parties. Though we fought the elections in alliance with the Congress in 2004, the CPI(M) said it will be difficult to enter into an alliance given the Congress dimension involved in the contest. I wanted the CPI(M) to give special consideration in this particular instance as I am the State secretary as of now and they assured to look into the matter. We have to wait and see.
Congress aspirants, including some senior leaders, are opposed to giving the seat to the CPI. Do you see any problem in their cooperating with your party
The Congress is a national party. It’s the party leadership that has taken a decision and all the leaders should fall in line with their high command’s decision. We are hopeful that the Congress leaders will support us en masse.
The TDP too has a significant presence in the Khammam district. Does it have any bearing on your prospects
The TDP was a major force in the past. But the party’s base has eroded considerably because of its political vacillation on separate Telangana issue. At the same time, the party had suffered some setbacks in the recent months in the district and this has an adverse impact on the party’s strength.
The TRS is claiming that its strength has increased considerably over the past few years. How will you tackle the situation as TRS will also be a tough opponent to deal with
The TRS may have gained some strength. But it is not that strong when it comes to Khammam. We have requested the TRS leadership to adopt special tactics this time around at least in case of the CPI as we have been in the forefront of the struggles.
