Congress seeks CPI's support for LS polls

Hyderabad: The Congress is seeking the support of the Communist Party of India (CPI) which was an ally of the party during the Assembly elections. Party candidates Revanth Reddy and Ch Vamsichand Reddy have met CPI leaders and sought their support.

The communist leaders welcomed the Congress candidates and promised their support. The left parties which had a sizable vote bank in the past in combined Andhra Pradesh had a good support among the people till the formation of Telangana.

The movements being organised by the CPI and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) had a profound impact on the people and also changed the political equations. The power movement spear headed by the communists (including left extremist parties) in 2003 brought the Congress to power in 2004 general elections to Assembly. Similarly, the communists helped the Telugu Desam to clinch power in 1985 and 1994.

The communist parties have their sway on the voters particularly in Nalgonda, Khammam districts. They enjoy support of the workers in Hyderabad city and urban areas of Telangana. The CPI has a firm grip on the workers of Singareni Collieries.

The CPI got 0.4 per cent of votes during the Assembly elections in 2018 losing 0.1 per cent. Its candidates have got about 82,000 votes in the three constituencies they contested in alliance with the Congress, Telugu Desam and Telangana Jana Samithi. The CPM formed the Bahujana Left Front and has got 0.4 per cent votes.

Its candidates have received about 85,000 votes in the State. In this election, the CPI and CPM have been contemplating to contest from four Parliament Constituencies of the State.

Congress leaders said that though the communists could not contribute lakhs of votes, their cadre could help the party candidates in certain pockets of each Parliamentary Constituency.

They said that in the urban areas the communists have good support among the slum dwellers, and they could divert those votes towards the Congress.

As the communists are going to contest in limited seats, the party leaders and workers would support the Congress.