A constituent of I.N.D.I.A. bloc, Communist Party of India (Marxist) has released its first list of 44 candidates for Lok Sabha elections. CPI (M) is in alliance in the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Tripura, while it is in a friendly contest with I.N.D.I.A. bloc partners in Kerala.
The list includes 15 candidates from Kerala, mainly AM Arif from Alappuzha, against Congress’s KC Venugopal, M Mukesh from Kollam, and others. The Kerala list is under the banner of the LDF (Left Democratic Front), an alliance of Left parties, while Congress’s India bloc partner is under the UDF (United Democratic Front) banner.
The CPI (M) has fielded Sanjay Kumar in the Khagaria seat in Bihar in alliance with the RJD and Congress, while senior leader Amra Ram is fielded from Rajasthan’s Sikar with support from the Congress party.
In Tripura (East), Rajendra Reang will get the support of Congress, while DMK has allotted CPI(M) two seats in Tamil Nadu, on which it has filded Su Venkatesan from Madurai, while PR Natarajan has been dropped as his sitting Coimbatore seat is taken over by DMK and instead given Dindigul from where it has fielded R Sachidhanandham.
In Karnataka, the CPI (M) is fielding MP Munivenkatappa in Chikkaballapur, where the party has a significant number of followers. In 27 other seats in the state, the Left Party has made it clear that it will support Congress candidates, and a decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held by Polit Bureau member MA Baby recently.
The party is also fielding candidates in Araku in Andhra Pradesh (Pachipenta Appalanarasa) and in Bhuvanagiri in Telangana (Mohd Jahangir). In both states, the CPI (M) is in touch with Congress for an alliance.
In Jharkhand, it has fielded Gopen Soren from JMM’s sitting seat, Rajmahal. In Barpeta, it is fielding Manoranjan Talukdar, while D. Ayyappan will fight from Andaman and the Nicobar Islands, and Purushottam Lal Bigla is fighting from Jalandhar.
In Bengal, the CPI (M) has also released a list of 17 candidates. The prominent candidates include state secretary Mohd Salim from Murshidabad against Congress’ Adhir RanjanChowdhury, Sujan Chakravarty from Dum Dum, Dipsita Dhar from Sreerampur, and Saira Shah Halim from Kolkata South.