A SEMINAR titled ‘Electoral Reforms: A Leftist Perspective’ was held in Madurai on October 4, 2014 as part of the silver jubilee celebrations of ‘Marxist’ – the ideological Tamil monthly magazine brought out by Tamilnadu state committee of the CPI (M). MA Baby, Polit Bureau member of the CPI (M) and R Vaigai, senior Counsel of Madras High Court addressed the seminar.

BY the time this issue of People’s Democracy is printed, by-polls for thousands of local bodies in Tamil Nadu would have been held. The polling is on September 18. The issue at stake is ‘democracy’.

The presence of around 20 state ministers in Coimbatore city for the mayoral elections by-poll has raised suspicion. Their arrival appeared to be for reasons other than campaign. AIADMK cadres were busy in distributing cash for votes till the late night on September 17. Not only in Coimbatore city, but everywhere across the state they indulged in cash distribution.

THE Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India jointly launched a week-long door-to-door campaign against the anti-people policies of the state and central governments across the state of Tamil Nadu. At Chennai, the campaign was inaugurated by G Ramakrishnan, CPI(M) state secretary and D Pandian, CPI secretary. They met the people by going door-to-door in the locality of Thousand Lights Area in South Chennai district. G Ramakrishnan gave pamphlets to the people. Hundreds of CPI(M)-CPI cadres with red flags walked through the streets with the leaders.

THOUGH the union budget has directly hit the common man, the statements from major Dravidian parties welcoming the budget has come as a shock, said Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary G Ramakrishnan at Madurai on July 14.