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Journalism of Courage
Putting an end to the uncertainty surrounding sharing of seats,the AIADMK and CPIM on Monday signed an agreement that allotted three seats to the Marxists for the coming Lok Sabha elections,one more than what it contested and won in 2004.
According to the agreement signed by AIADMK general secretary and Opposition leader J Jayalalithaa and CPIM state secretary N Varadarajan,the Left party has retained the two seats it contested last time and gained one more,though it faces a tough challenge in all the three places.
In Madurai,CPIM candidate P Mohan will face Chief Minister M Karunanidhis son M K Azhagiri,contesting his first ever election from his home base.
Mohan had won the 2004 Lok Sabha elections when contested together with the DMK,Congress,PMK and MDMK. This time,the experience could be different as the Opposition front will have to muster all its resources even to stay in the race.
The CPIM has also been allotted the Kanyakumari seat,which was formed out of Nagercoil constituency after delimitation. The party had won the Nagercoil constituency in 2004.
The DMK has fielded J Hellen Davidson in the seat,despite strong demands by local Congress functionaries in favour of contesting from the prestigious seat. This is a UPA stronghold,with the Congress and DMK winning two each of the six Assembly segments.
Apart from the two sitting seats,the Left party has also been allotted Coimbatore,a tier-II industrial city with considerable working class population. However,despite many issues like recession,power cuts and subsequent job loss expected to work in its favour,the CPIM will have to face the challenge from R Prabhu of the Congress,who is tipped to contest from Coimbatore,after giving up his Nilgiris seat for DMK leader A Raja.
Prabhu is a five-time MP from Nilgiris with strong connections with industrialists in this western city.
Talks between the AIADMK and CPIM had reached a grinding halt when both parties stuck on their demand to contest from Tirupur,a new district and constituency carved mainly out of Coimbatore. Both parties have strong bases here,making it a comfortable seat. The Opposition camp has not yet announced a candidate from the seat.
So far,the AIADMK has finished seat-sharing discussions with the Pattali Makkal Katchi and CPI,who are contesting from seven and three seats respectively. With the deal with the CPM now being sealed,the next challenge for Opposition camp is to finalise discussions with ally MDMK,which has been sulking over a less number of seats allotted to it by the AIADMK leadership,despite being a faithful partner for the past three years.
The DMK,on the other hand,released its candidates list on Sunday and is scheduled to begin campaign on April 18. So far,DMK 21,PMK 7 and DMDK 40 are the only parties who have identified the seats and candidates,while others including the Congress and CPI are yet to make their decisions public.
