CPI-M to ally with ex-UDF members in local body polls

Thiruvananthapuram: CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan Sunday said the party has decided to face the November local bodies polls by sharing seats with estranged allies of the ruling Congress-led UDF.

Kodiyeri said these would include factions of the parties that have expressed a desire to work with the Left like the Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy and the Communist Marxist Party.

"Yes, the UDF did win a recent assembly by-election. That constituency (Aruvikara) has always been a UDF one. Winning that does not mean they are going to retain power in the next assembly polls."

He said the CPI-M had always pushed the ideologies of social reformer Sree Narayana Guru. He decried the role of Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Sangom general secretary Vellapally Natesan.

"In the last Lok Sabha polls, in Alappuzha he supported our candidate. At Idukki he supported the Congress candidate. Both candidates lost.

"It was the Congress that has supported the now defunct parties of the Hindu Nair community and the Exhava community. Today that role has been taken over by the BJP. Natesan should study all what has happened in the past to follow a secular path," Balakrishnan said.