The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Money power tilted the balance in favour of ruling combine: CPI (M)

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Monday, Jun 01, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Money power tilted the balance in favour of ruling combine: CPI (M)

B. Kolappan

CHENNAI: Conceding the positive role played by the welfare measures of the UPA government at the Centre and the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, CPI (M) State secretary N. Varadarajan said that the “unprecedented money power” eventually tilted the balance in favour of the ruling combine in the Lok Sabha elections.

Talking to The Hindu on the eve of the party’s two-day secretariat meeting that begins on Monday, Mr. Varadarajan said the neck-to-neck fight in many constituencies and narrow margin victories went to show the role of money in the elections. This had created a new trend in Tamil Nadu politics, he added.

The CPI (M) contested in the Kanyakumari, Madurai and Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituencies, but could win only Coimbatore.

Mr. Varadarajan admitted that in many places the party’s campaign did not address all the expectations of the people and the alternative front projected by the Left met with a setback.

He said the UPA won more seats than expected because the people were not in favour of the communal BJP capturing power.

Maintaining that the issues raised by the Left parties during the election would continue to remain relevant in Indian politics, he said the economy was in crisis and the exports had been severely affected.

“The UPA government failed to implement the recommendations of Dr M.S. Swaminathan Committee for the welfare of farmers in the country. It’s failure to prevent online trading has led to spiralling of the price of the essential commodities,” he said.

Asked about the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, Mr Varadarajan said India’s role was all the more important in rehabilitating 3 lakh people displaced by the war. “India should immediately intervene and facilitate a political solution to the problem. Securing rights for the Tamils on a par with the Sinhalese and autonomy for Tamil areas,” he said.

Mr. Varadarajan also stressed the need for ensuring democratic functioning of the various Tamils groups.

Field reports

He said the State committee had received detailed field reports on the elections from the district committees and the secretariat would further discuss the reports.

It would be followed by State committee meeting on June 5 and 6.

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