The four party People’s Welfare Front, consisting of the CPI, the CPI(M), the VCK and the MDMK, would take on the AIADMK, the DMK and the BJP in the 2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly election, according to R Mutharasan, secretary, Tamil Nadu CPI.
In a statement released to the media on Thursday, Mutharasan ruled out the possibility of the PWF entering into any kind of alliance with the AIADMK, the DMK or the BJP. “While the AIADMK and the DMK are enmeshed in corruption, the BJP is a communal outfit. Ours will be a front fighting for the welfare of farmers, agricultural labourers, workers and the minorities,” Mutharasan said in the statement.
Though Vaiko, the MDMK chief, has been designated as the coordinator of the PWF to rope in more parties to the front, this is the first time an announcement is being made by the CPI, a crucial force in Tamil Nadu politics that the four parties would fight the election jointly.
“The five-decades long Dravidian rule has taken Tamil Nadu backward and it is time for us to elect a progressive and pro-poor Government for the welfare of the State. The country is under the threat of a fascist take over,” said Mutharasan.
The CPI leader said the PWF is still open to any secular, democratic and pro-poor outfits. “We are sure or more such political parties in Tamil Nadu would join us in the run up to the election,” he said. A senior CPI leader told this newspaper that they are hopefulof DMDK led by Vijayakanth and TMC of G K Vasan too joining the PWF.
Interestingly Mutharasan’s statement comes after the announcement by former CPI state secretary D Pandian who said that any decision about the formation of an electoral front would be taken only after the political landscape in Tamil Nadu becomes clear. “We have to wait till the AIADMK and the DMK finalise their strategies. Then only we may be able to form any kind of alliance,” he had told reporters recently.