CPI (M) state secretary G. Ramakrishnan on Friday said that while the Left parties were ready to join hands with parties like the DMK to fight communal forcesand on issues affecting the common man, it was not possible to extend the relationship into an electoral alliance.
Reacting to VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan’s appeal that the Left parties should join hands with all secular parties including the Congress and DMK to fight against the BJP, Mr Ramakrishnan said electoral issues were not confined to communalism alone.
“When it comes to pursuing anti-people economic policies, there is hardly any difference between the Congress and the BJP. In Tamil Nadu, both the AIADMK and the DMK are sailing in the same boat as far as economic policies are concerned,” he told The Hindu.
Mr Ramakrishnan said that past experience had clearly proved that the AIADMK and the DMK had made compromises in their fight against communalism and had joined the government led by the BJP at the Centre. “They have lost their credibility and there is no guarantee that they would not join the government, including the BJP government at the Centre in future,” he said.
As regards the apprehensions expressed by Mr Thirumavalavan that Dalits, minorities and oppressed sections would be at the receiving end in Tamil Nadu if the BJP was allowed to gain ground, Mr Ramakrishnan said the Left parties had always been in the forefront to protect the weaker section of the society.
“When the RSS called for a bandh in Tirupur on the day of Bakrid, the CPI (M) took the initiative to bring together all parties against the move. Our efforts resulted in the RSS withdrawing its bandh call,” he said, reiterating that there was nothing wrong in working with parties like the DMK on people’s issues to keep the communal elements at bay.
“But we must bear in mind that both the DMK and the AIADMK failed to stand by the oppressed sections of the society when they were at the receiving end. They have lost their credibility as far as social issues are concerned,” he added.
Mr Ramakrishnan said today the Sangh Parivar was controlling as many as 39 organisations and RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat was functioning like a coordinator. “We need to fight them ideologically and on the cultural front,” he said.
