The support of the two Left parties — the Communist Party of India and the CPI (Marxist) — to the Congress in the forthcoming elections to the Lok Sabha is likely to play a crucial role in deciding the outcome in at least some constituencies, especially those in the coal belt.
The CPI resolved to extend support to all the Congress candidates in the fray, the CPI (M) has announced its support in all but one of the 17 constituencies. The CPI (M) is going on its own in the Bhongir Lok Sabha seat in spite of repeated requests from the Congress leadership seeking withdrawal of its candidate to avoid split in the votes.
“The CPI is too accommodative while the CPI (M) maintained its stance during the talks for extending support to the Congress candidates,” a political observer with Left leanings said. The CPI (M) is learnt to have decided to confine itself to a single constituency in the Lok Sabha elections as it did not want to repeat the mistake of contesting several seats without any success in the recent Assembly elections.
