Left keeps cards close on joining Sept 9 TVK meet

CHENNAI: The Left parties on Saturday said they would announce their decision on whether to attend the meeting convened by the ruling TVK on September 9 before that day, without specifying a time frame, heightening suspense.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Left parties’ coordination committee, Shanmugam said the CPI and CPM were yet to discuss the invitation extended by TVK to parties supporting the government and those in the alliance.

“The respective party committees will meet and take a decision. We will certainly announce our decision before September 9,” he said.

Shanmugam said TVK had made a fresh attempt to bring together parties supporting the government and form an alliance. Unlike the earlier meeting, which the Left parties did not attend, the ministers who met the two parties' state secretaries on Friday clearly explained the objective of the September 9 meeting.

Meanwhile, Shanmugam announced that the Left parties would hold a massive workers’ rally in Tiruchy on October 15. The rally, earlier scheduled for October 6, was postponed due to unavoidable reasons. The national general secretaries of the three Left parties are expected to participate.

The rally will be held under the slogan “Tamil Nadu towards the Left”, Shanmugam said. He said the objective was to strengthen Left ideology across Tamil Nadu and mobilise people in support of Left politics.

He said the rally would focus on the aspirations and demands of working people and oppose economic inequality, caste discrimination and various forms of oppression. A statewide campaign for the rally will begin on Sunday, with the Left parties planning to take their message and demands to villages, towns and households.

CPI state secretary M Veerapandian said the Left parties had begun a separate political journey through the coordination committee and would join hands with democratic forces to defeat the BJP when circumstances required.

“We support good schemes and governance, but oppose those against the public without compromise. Our voice will always be on the side of workers, the poor and the weaker sections,” he said.