The April 12 bypoll to be held at the RK Nagar Assembly constituency had reached a feverish pitch by Saturday though the main candidates are yet to submit their nomination forms. The CPI(M), one of the three constituents in the Peoples Welfare Front announced on Saturday that it would field R lakanathan as a candidate in the bypoll. G Ramakrishnan, the CPI(M) State boss said the other constituents, CPI and the VCK, were welcome to extend their support lokanathan.
“The Congress, the DMK and the AIADMK have failed in countering the growth of communal forces led by the BJP. Now it is the responsibility of the left forces to save the country from communal forces led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said Ramakrishnan.
R Mutharasan, state secretary of the CPI said he would hold a meeting with VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan on Sunday and announce their stance on the bypoll.
The BJP’s decision to field music director Gangai Amaran as the party candidate has evoked mixed reactions from party leaders as well as activists. Despite victories registered in the recently held Assembly elections to the States of Uttar Pradesh, UttaraKhand, Goa and Manipur, the BJP in Tamil Nadu continues to be groping in the dark for its survival, say senior party activists.
“Whoever is fielded as the BJP candidate in R K Nagar will get a maximum of 10,000 (ten thousand) votes and not more than that. The party’s leadership in Tamil Nadu as well as in Delhi should understand that the BJP is plagued by dissension and groupism,” said a national level leader from Tamil Nadu.
But Prakash M Swamy, political commentator said Gangai Amaran is the best bet the BJP has made in recent times. “Serious accusations have been made by the Communists, Congress and other organisations that the BJP is anti-Dalit. The CPI(M) and the CPI blame BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for all suicides committed by Dalit students. The decision of the BJP to nominate Gangai Amaran, who is a Dalit, at R K Nagar is a bold move which could lead to the party reaping rich dividends in future,” said Swamy, a person highly critical of the saffron party.
An interesting development from the AIADMK blocks was the decision of Patrick Madhavan, the husband of Deepa Patrick, to launch a separate political party. Though Deepa is heading the MAD Peravai and is contesting from RK Nagar, Patrick Madhavan declared late Friday that he would launch a political outfit as his wife was being influenced by “evil forces” .
The ambience in R K Nagar is all set to get surcharged by next week as the Election Commission of India is all set to pronounce its verdict on the plea by both the fronts for the Two leaves symbol. “Whoever gets to contest under the Two leaves symbol would hold a slight advantage in the battle,” said K A Johny, a keen AIADMK observer.