The Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the All-India Forward Bloc have forged an alliance to fight the Assembly elections in the State.
They will field candidates in 42 out of the 224 constituencies in the State.
Assistant secretary of the CPI State unit Shoukat Ali Alur told presspersons here on Wednesday that a consensus on fighting the elections unitedly was taken at a joint meeting of senior leaders of all the three parties in Bangalore on January 4.
Mr. Alur said that while the CPI (M) would field candidates in 20 constituencies, the CPI would field its nominees in 16 and the Forward Bloc in six. No final decision had been taken on extending support to other like-minded political parties in the remaining constituencies.
To a question, Mr. Alur said the Left parties had decided to distance themselves from the Janata Dal (S) as the party had also failed to provide a political alternative to people of the State.
Mr. Alur said the party had decided to hold its two-day State committee meeting in Chikmagalur from February 2, which would be inaugurated by national secretary of the party D. Raja, MP. Other senior leaders of the party would also participate in the State committee meeting and a public rally organised in this connection in Chikmagalur.
He said Mr. Raja would announce the list of constituencies where the CPI would field its candidates, and also release the names of the 16 candidates. In Gulbarga district, Mr. Alur said the party would field candidates in Gulbarga South and Jewargi constituencies. Mr. Alur would be the likely candidate from Jewargi.
He said that at the meeting it was decided to hold joint conventions in constituencies where the Left parties would field candidates. Workers of the parties would take up door-to-door campaigning and collect at least one lakh signatures from voters from each constituency.
All parties had expressed support to the Bharat bandh on February 20 and 21 against the Centre’s “anti-people” and “anti-worker” policies.
