Communists in Tamil Nadu are at the crossroads after their rout in the recent Assembly elections. After experimenting with forming united fronts—first against the Congress and then against the BJP at the national level—their efforts to create an alternative to the AIADMK and the DMK have come a cropper. For the first time since Independence, the CPI and the CPI (M) are without any representation in the Assembly. To avoid such a vacuum caused by the current electoral process, the parties have been advocating electoral reforms, including granting of proportionate representation to parties in the Assembly based on their vote share.
Did the Left parties err in not aligning with either of the Dravidian parties for the Assembly polls? R. Jawahar, the author of Communism: Netru, Intru Nalai (Communism: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow) disagreed. According to him, the formation of an alternative front was the right move on the part of the Left and one could not expect it to produce immediate results. “It will take over 10 years to make an impact,” he said.
Mr. Jawahar, once a full-time CPI (M) member, said the Communists had projected one bourgeois party against another in the last 50 years and never presented themselves as an alternative. “It was a wrong decision to include the TMC and DMDK in the People’s Welfare Front. At least in future, the PWF should function with its original (four) founders,” he felt. While making a strong case for strengthening the organisation at all levels, he contended that even those who benefitted by the struggles of the Communists had voted for the DMK and the AIADMK.
Asked about the electoral debacle, both CPI (M) State secretary G. Ramakrishnan and CPI State secretary R. Mutharasan, asserted that notwithstanding the rout, the space for an alternative front existed as reasons behind such a course of action continue to be relevant.
They told The Hindu that there had not been enough time to take the message of an alternative front to the people. The also expressed the hope that the all six constituents of the PWF would continue their journey together in Tamil Nadu.
“We will continue to fight for the cause of people and mobilise them on the plank of alternative politics,” said Mr Mutharasan. “Of course it (elections) is a defeat. But it is only temporary. We had only 10 months to propagate our ideas,” he noted.
Mr. Ramakrishnan alleged that money played a major role in the Assembly elections and it was a clear proof that both the DMK and the AIADMK would go to any extent to win elections.
“Even the Election Commission has acknowledged the distribution of money, and for the first time in the country it has rescinded elections in Aravakurichi and Thanjavur on allegations of money distribution,” Mr. Mutharasan said.
Mr. Jawahar said money power and campaign strength of the DMK and the AIADMK were the immediate reasons for the defeat of the Communists. As an antidote to the use of money, he wanted the Election Commission to sponsor elections.
“The Left parties should constantly educate and politicise the people with whom they are working with in the socio, political and cultural spheres,” he said.
But Left parties say the fight to mobilise people on the plank of alternative politics is still on
