CPI (M) will continue to oppose both BJP and AIADMK: Balakrishnan

CPI (M) to oppose BJP & AIADMK; hails AIADMK's exit from NDA; will contest Madurai & Coimbatore LS seats; INDIA bloc seeks votes based on ideology, not individual; hails HC verdict on Vachathi incident; slams TN Governor & Annamalai; urges TN govt to form cotton corp; flays Karnataka govt for lack of decency; welcomes HC order to retrieve land parcels; NIA crossing limits in Coimbatore blast case.

The CPI (M) will continue to oppose the BJP as well as the AIADMK, its state secretary K Balakrishnan said in Coimbatore on Friday, September 29, 2023.

“AIADMK exiting the BJP-led NDA is a good decision and the CPI-M remains committed steadfast in wiping out the BJP from the political map of the country. Having seen the rule by AIADMK the CPI-M will oppose the AIADMK as well,” he told journalists.

Mr. Balakrishnan hailed the decision of the AIADMK to exit the NDA but he felt the grounds for exiting should not be merely the speeches of the party’s state president K. Annamalai and it looks a mockery. Ideally, the AIADMK should have cited the BJP’s ideologies as the reason.

To a query on the possibility of a third front, Mr. Balakrishnan said there may be third, fourth and fifth fronts in Tamil Nadu but as far as CPI (M) is concerned, the only front is the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance and the INDIA bloc.

When reporters asked about the MSME strike in Tamil Nadu citing the power tariff hike, he said the party had been promptly pointing out the mistakes of the DMK government. Twelve-hour work rule was withdrawn when the CPI (M) pointed it out that it would hit the workforce hard.

On the constituencies that the CPI (M) will contest in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Balakrishnan said the CPI (M) will repeat the 2019 formula and will persuade DMK to allocate the Madurai and Coimbatore Lok Sabha seats.

On the Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections of the INDIA bloc, the parties in the alliance believe that one should seek votes based on ideology and should not be based on an individual.