IN Tamilnadu, the CPI(M) and the CPI are jointly contesting 18 Lok Sabha constituencies. It means nearly 110 assembly segments. They have nearly 25,000 cadres, including 2,000 women, in the field. These are from various walks of life. These self-effacing, selfless and dedicated cadres of the two Left parties have spread to every nook and corner of the constituencies which the Left combine is contesting in the state. They and the supporters are working tirelessly for the victory of the Left nominees. In the nine constituencies which the CPI(M) is contesting, hundreds of women’s squads are meeting the voters door to door. Their intense campaign in towns and villages as well as remote areas has evoked a good response. At almost every doorstep, voters are positively responding to the campaign of these squads, with the women cadres explaining why the voters should vote for the Left candidate. In all these places, voters have complained about so many local issues and accused the sitting MPs and MLAs as well as the AIADMK/DMK governments and the central government of not paying attention to the people’s issues. At every doorstep, women voters criticised the UPA government for its utter failure in controlling the rises in the prices of essential commodities and fuels. Youth and student cadres are also meeting the voters in squads. In almost all segments, DYFI-SFI cadres have held bicycle and two-wheeler rallies campaigning for the Left candidates. Cultural teams like Pudhucherry Safdar Hasmi Kazhaikuzhu, Sudar Kazhaikuzhu, Murasu Kazhaikuzhu and Pudhukai Poobalam Kazhaikuzhu are putting up live shows in the streets in various constituencies. Bharathi Puthgalayam, the publishing house of the CPI(M), has published nine pamphlets explaining various issues and the role of the Left. Then, in every constituency, cadres are playing a CD containing songs which introduce the concerned candidate and explain the real issues in that particular constituency. With these materials in hand, plus the booklets brought out by the Central Committee of the party, CPI(M) cadres are intensively engaged in the poll campaign in the state. ON CANVASSING AT NIGHT TIME Meanwhile, G Ramakrishnan, state secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has criticised the statement made by the chief electoral officer (CEO) of Tamilnadu, Praveen Kumar, that candidates and political parties could carry on their door to door campaigning after 10 p m without making any noise. Speaking to reporters after releasing the party’s appeal to the voters and the Tamil version of the poll manifesto brought out by the Central Committee of the party at Madurai on April 4, Ramakrishnan said while the CEO has described the prevention of distribution of money to voters as a challenge, it was baffling to read his latest statement. The CPI(M) has strongly criticised such a blanket permission which might pave the way for some parties or candidates to woo voters by illegal means. Asked whether the communists were satisfied with the functioning of the Election Commission (EC), he said the general impression was that the EC had done nothing substantial to prevent malpractices. For instance, there was no stern action in 2009 when the CPI(M) cadres noticed cash distribution during the by-election in Tirumangalam assembly segment and alerted the EC authorities. The same trend might be seen this time too. On frequent power cuts, Ramakrishnan said both the DMK and the AIADMK had miserably failed by not anticipating the state’s total power requirement. They had no vision in this regard. These two parties have been in power from 2001 to 2011. He pointed out that it would take at least two to four years to set up a power project. Hence the two parties were responsible for the present power situation and that the voters should realise this, he added. Referring to the accusation that the communist parties had not capitalised on a good opportunity to form a formidable front in Tamilnadu, Ramakrishnan said it was wrong to blame the communists. “If the DMK and the AIADMK did not want either the BJP or the Congress to form a government at the centre, they should have joined hands with secular parties like the communists. The AIADMK has not attacked the BJP so far. The electorate should understand all these things and vote for the Left parties,” he added. Later, he campaigned for CPI(M) candidate for the Madurai constituency, B Vikraman. NDA: AN OUT & OUT OPPORTUNIST FRONT On April 6, at a campaign meeting in Villupuram constituency for the CPI(M) candidate G Anandan, G Ramakrishnan has termed the Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance in the state an “opportunistic political front.” He pointed out that the country has witnessed a total of 728 communal incidents in 2013, in which 133 people were killed and 2,269 injured. The RSS and the VHP were named in some of these incidents. Therefore, it was a cause for concern that parties such as the Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam had aligned with the BJP. SUDHAKAR REDDY CAMPAIGNS At a huge campaign meeting in Tirupur, where K Subbarayan , a senior leader of the CPI, is contesting as the Left candidate, CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said that despite the difficult political situation following the AIADMK’s unilateral decision to snap ties with the CPI and the CPI(M), the Left parties would be able to win some seats in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. “People are looking to the Left parties to help form a government at the centre that would be an ‘alternative in policies’ to the governments led by the BJP and the Congress since 1998,” he said. Reddy further said the Congress-led UPA government’s neo-liberal economic policies during 2009-14 had resulted in steep rises in the prices of essential commodities and in unemployment. If the BJP came to power, the situation would be the same and miseries of the people would continue, he added. Reddy was of the view that a realignment of political parties would happen post-election because of the projected fragmented mandate, so as to achieve the objective of forming a government which had alternative policies to the BJP and the Congress. These policies would be focussing on employment oriented growth, improvement on human development indices and allocation of power at subsidised rates to micro and small scale enterprises, he added. On Sri Lankan issue, Reddy compared the Lankan president Rajapaksa with Modi for not taking action even after the exposes show human rights violation in the island nation, similar to the non-action against human massacre in Gujarat in 2002. QUESTIONING AIADMK & DMK At the same meeting at Tiruppur, CPI(M) Central Committee member T K Rangarajan accused the DMK as well as AIADMK of seeking to confuse the electors. He said that both the parties were not interested in talking about national politics and enlighten the people on the major issues. “The DMK and the AIADMK are also not able to tell anything substantive on the performances of the UPA or NDA governments,” he told. Rangarajan asked the AIADMK and the DMK to reply why they were not attacking the BJP during their election campaigns. “The BJP is not going to win any seats in Kerala, Tamilnadu, Odisha, and West Bengal,” he said. Taking a dig at Modi for his ‘pink revolution’ remark, he said “Modi should not forget that the meat export was highest during the NDA regime.” On Modi’s claim of giving protection to Tamilnadu fishermen, Rangarajan asked why, then, he made no move to bring back around 200 Gujarat fishermen imprisoned in Pakistan jail. He cited figures that showed Gujarat lagging behind many states on indicators like expenditures on health and drinking water availability.