Communist Party of India (CPI) State Secretary Veliyam Bhargavan has said that the allegations of the Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) over discrepancies in electoral rolls in the Kannur Assembly constituency were fuelled by the fear of failure in the November 7 Assembly by-poll.
Addressing a Meet-The-Press programme organised by the Alappuzha Press Club here on Friday, Mr. Bhargavan said the charges of the Congress were ‘baseless’ and that these came from the fear that the UDF would lose a traditional bastion to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the elections.
On the Central Election Commission’s directive to replace Kannur District Collector V.K. Balakrishnan, Mr. Bhargavan said the move did not bother the CPI, since the party did not have any motives or purpose in having Mr. Balakrishnan himself as the Collector. On the possible results of the by-elections, the CPI fancied “a good chance” in Alappuzha while it was “very optimistic” about the LDF’s performance in Ernakulam. Kannur would witness a “tight fight” with high chances of the LDF wresting the seat, he said.
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Denying any knowledge of Forests and Environment Minister Binoy Viswom visiting the NSS headquarters, Mr. Bhargavan said the CPI did not favour tie-ups with any particular community or community organisation. On the People’s Democratic Party fielding its candidate in Alappuzha, the sole constituency where the CPI was fighting the by-election, Mr. Bhargavan said the party was not bothered about the PDP’s presence.
The CPI’s opinion about the PDP was the same as it was during the recent Lok Sabha elections. “That is a principled position and there will be no change to it,” he stated.
The veteran CPI leader also criticised Union Ministers A.K. Antony and Vayalar Ravi for having “failed” in protecting the State’s interests, particularly those of the tea and coffee industrial sectors, while signing the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement. The two, both of whom are from Alappuzha, were more interested in holding onto their seats of power than protecting the interests of the working class, Mr. Bhargavan added.
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CPI State Secretariat members T. Purushothaman and Sathyan Mokeri were also present.