A few hours after Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) leader Vijayakant announced the formation of a “a third front” comprising his party and the CPI(M), the Communist Party of India (CPI) also decided to join the new front for the local body elections after its talks with the ruling AIADMK made no headway.
Mr. Vijayakant said the popularity of the front among the people would further strengthen the ties between the two parties. “We have a cordial relationship and it will grow and spread like a banyan tree,” Mr Vijayakant told reporters at his party headquarters after the agreement for seat-sharing was reached between the two parties for the local body polls.
As per the agreement, the CPI (M) will contest for the posts of Mayor in Coimbatore and Vellore Municipal Corporations, chairpersons of 25 municipalities and presidents of 61 town panchayats. The DMDK will field its candidates in rest of the local bodies.
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Asked about the thrust of his campaign and the issues to be highlighted, Mr. Vijayakant said he would answer all questions during the election campaign.
CPI (M) State secretary G. Ramakrishnan said sharing of councillors' seats in all local bodies would be decided by leaders of the two parties at the district level.
Asked whether the coming together of the CPI (M) and the DMDK would continue in the next Lok Sabha polls and Assembly polls, Mr Ramakrishnan said these issues would be decided depending on the political situation.
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The CPI (M) had earlier released two lists of candidates including Mayoral candidates for Madurai, Tirupur, Vellore and Coimbatore Municipal corporations. Now the party will withdraw its candidates from Madurai and Tirupur.
CPI state secretary D. Pandian said no agreement was reached between his party and the ruling AIADMK even after many rounds of talks and the party's executive council had decided to hold talks with the CPI (M) and the DMDK.
He also released a list of local bodies the party wished to contest and the candidates the party has decided to field. It would contest for the Mayor posts of Tirupur and Tirunelveli Municipal Corporations, chairmen of 18 municipalities and 48 town panchayats.
The list, however, he said, was subject to change.
Mr. Pandian also said that in the last four months, the CPI had no contradiction with the ruling party on issues.
In the meantime, the ruling AIADMK completed seat-sharing agreement with minor allies like Republican Party of India (RPI) headed by C.K. Tamilarasan, Forward Bloc and Tamil Nadu State Muslim league.