Chennai, Sept 2026 : The Left parties in Tamil Nadu have decided to contest the upcoming Assembly bypolls in Madurantakam and Dharapuram independently, while continuing to extend outside support to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led state government, party sources said on Sunday.
Under the decision, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) will field its candidate in Madurantakam, while the Communist Party of India (CPI) will contest from Dharapuram. The decision was taken at separate meetings of the state leaderships of the two parties held on Saturday.
CPI-M state secretary P Shanmugam told reporters in Tiruchy that the party had decided to participate in the bypolls after consultations with the CPI and the CPI-ML Liberation.
He clarified that the Left parties were not part of any of the three existing political alliances in Tamil Nadu. According to Shanmugam, the bypolls should not be viewed as a general election or as a contest that would determine the survival of the TVK government.
Against this backdrop, the CPI-M and CPI decided to contest one constituency each under the Left Front arrangement.
The candidates are scheduled to be formally introduced at a meeting of the state secretaries of the CPI-M, CPI and CPI-ML Liberation in Chennai on September 15. The deadline for filing nominations for the bypolls is September 16.
CPI state secretary M Veerapandian, speaking in Chennai, said the party's state executive had reaffirmed its earlier decision to remain outside all existing political alliances. He confirmed that the CPI would contest Dharapuram, while the CPI-M would field its candidate in Madurantakam.
Veerapandian also explained the Left's decision to extend outside support to the TVK government following the state Assembly election. He said the support was intended to respect the people's mandate and prevent any attempt by the Governor or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to exercise indirect control over the administration.
However, he stressed that the CPI had neither joined the state government nor entered into a political alliance with TVK.
Both Left leaders made it clear that their decision to contest the bypolls independently would not lead to the withdrawal of their outside support to the government.
Shanmugam said the Left parties continued to have differences with the TVK government on several issues, including certain provisions of its Budget and the implementation of what he described as liberal and neo-liberal economic policies. These differences, he said, would be highlighted during the election campaign.
The CPI-M leader also criticised the two TVK candidates who had earlier won the respective constituencies on AIADMK tickets before resigning and joining TVK within 20 days.
As part of its election strategy, the CPI-M will approach political parties outside the three major alliances in the state seeking support for its candidate.
Shanmugam also urged the Tamil Nadu government to make public details of foreign investments received by the state. He called for stronger financial, taxation and credit support for domestic industries and small-scale enterprises, arguing that such measures were necessary to strengthen local economic activity and employment.
