Karnataka: Left parties not in poll fray, but keen on BJP’s defeat

MANGALURU: Even as all major political parties have almost finalised their candidates in the constituencies of coastal districts, left parties CPI(M) and CPI have taken a stand that they will not be in the fray, but remain active to defeat the BJP.
Sources in the CPI(M) said that the party has decided not to contest to avoid division of secular votes in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and neighbouring districts. The CPI(M) and CPI will hold a convention at the Don Bosco Hall in Mangaluru on April 18 to decide about poll campaigns. The Left parties will work to ensure the defeat of BJP in each constituency in the region, party sources said.
CPI(M) Dakshina Kannada district secretariat member Sunil Kumar Bajal told TOI that the party has decided at the national-level that the main objective should be to defeat the BJP.
“While the CPI(M) has decided to field candidates in five constituencies of the state, it has decided not to field candidates in Dakshina Kannada and other coastal districts. The party does not want to divide secular votes by contesting. However, we will not be remaining neutral just because our party has no candidates. We will go to the people and campaign for the win of secular candidates,” he said.
The Left parties have had their share of glory in the coastal districts. CPI leader A Krishna Shetty was elected as the MLA of erstwhile Mangaluru-2 constituency in 1962. Later, CPI(M) candidate P Ramachandra Rao had become the MLA of Ullal (Mangaluru-2 constituency was renamed as Ullal in 1978) constituency in 1983. Left parties, especially the CPI(M) and its labour unions and youth wings, have been proactive in fights for various social causes, and also could win in many of the local body elections in the past.
DYFI state president Muneer Katipalla said that the current political scenario in Karnataka calls for the defeat of the BJP. “The BJP government is against the working class that they amended law to raise the number of working hours from 8 to 12 and also allowed night shifts for women. Farm laws were rolled back, but the same have not been implemented in Karnataka. More importantly, the BJP has made coastal Karnataka a laboratory for their communal polarisation. Hence, the priority is to defeat the communal forces,” he said.