Tamil Nadu Bypolls: Why Left Is Backing CM Vijay's Govt While Fighting TVK

Politics often thrives on contradictions and Tamil Nadu is witnessing one of them. The Left parties in Tamil Nadu are backing Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay's government in the Assembly while preparing to take on his Tamilaga Vettri Kazagham (TVK) candidates in the October 6 bypolls.

The CPI and CPI(M), which extended outside support to the Vijay-led government after the May Assembly election, will contest the Madurantakam seat in Chengalpattu district and Dharapuram in Tiruppur district.

According to India Today, the Left's decision is not aimed at bringing down the four-month-old government. Instead, it reflects differences with the TVK over candidate selection, party-hopping, economic policies and the government's handling of several people's issues.

The differences became visible on September 9, when the CPI and CPI(M) stayed away from the first alliance meeting hosted by the TVK. Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) attended the meeting.

The two bypolls will therefore be an early test of Vijay's political management. He has to retain the Left's support in the Assembly while facing its campaign against his party's candidates on the ground.

For the Left, the contests will test whether it can support a government without giving up its political identity, while also measuring its electoral strength outside a larger alliance.

Why Is Left Supporting Vijay's Government?

The Left's decision to contest against TVK in the bypolls may appear contradictory, but its support for the government is different from its electoral position.

The relationship between the Left and TVK began with the Assembly election verdict in May. The CPI and CPI(M) extended outside support to Vijay to help him form the government.

Their stated position was that the electoral mandate had to be respected. The alternative, they feared, could have been governor's rule or an indirect BJP-staged government.

However, the Left did not join Vijay's government. It did not take cabinet berths or become part of a formal TVK alliance. This allowed the two parties to support the government while retaining their organisational and political independence.

CPI(M) state secretary P Shanmugam has said that the outside support will continue despite the decision to contest the bypolls against TVK candidates.

As India Today reporetd, the Left sees supporting the government and contesting an election against the ruling party as two separate political questions. For voters, however, the distinction may be less straightforward.

The communists' immediate explanation is that the Left is not part of any of the three major political fronts in Tamil Nadu. The CPI and CPI(M) are neither part of the TVK-led alliance, recently named the Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance (SSJVA), nor the DMK-led front or the AIADMK-BJP combine.

Having stayed outside these formations, the Left argues that contesting the election independently is necessary to preserve its political identity.

The CPI will contest Dharapuram, while the CPI(M) will field its candidate in Madurantakam. CPI state secretary M Veerapandian said on Sunday, September 13, that the Left wants to take its political ideas directly to voters rather than allow them to be absorbed into alliance calculations.

This is particularly significant for a Left that has spent years contesting elections as part of wider alliances, with its vote share often contributing to a larger electoral bloc rather than being tested independently. The bypolls are therefore not only about winning two seats but also about retaining political space.

Left's Growing Differences With TVK

There is another immediate source of friction between the Left and TVK. The TVK has retained K Maragatham Kumaravel in Madurantakam and P Sathyabama in Dharapuram. Both had won their seats on AIADMK tickets in the Assembly election before resigning and joining Vijay's party soon afterwards.

The Left has strongly opposed the move. CPI(M) state secretary P Shanmugam has criticised the legislators for resigning soon after winning their seats and switching parties. He has also said that the possibility of horse-trading cannot be ruled out.

For the Left, the issue is not merely one of electoral strategy. It is also about the kind of politics the parties want to represent. The parties have argued that voters should not be misled by elected representatives changing political sides soon after securing a mandate on another party's ticket.

The bypoll campaign gives the Left an opportunity to attack TVK on the issue without withdrawing its support for the government. The dispute over the two candidates is not the only point of disagreement.

Over the past few months, CPI and CPI(M) leaders have criticised the Vijay government on several issues, including price rises, power cuts, protests by sanitation workers and farmers' demands.

The parties have also objected to what they describe as the government's "liberal and neoliberal" economic policies and its focus on attracting foreign investment.

The functioning of the Tamil Nadu Assembly has also become a point of criticism. Shanmugam has argued that the Assembly should remain a serious forum for raising people's issues rather than becoming a "lavani kacheri" - a theatrical political exchange.

The bypolls will give the Left a platform to take these criticisms directly to voters. Its argument is that supporting the continuation of the Vijay government does not amount to giving it a free pass.

Five-way Fight In Bypolls

The Left's decision has made the contests more crowded. The TVK-led alliance, DMK, AIADMK-BJP combine, Left parties and Naam Tamilar Katchi are now set to contest the two constituencies.

The split could make the electoral arithmetic significant, as even a relatively small vote share could affect the outcome in a closely fought contest. For TVK, the challenge will be to ensure that the Left's presence does not cut into the support base that helped its candidates win the constituencies.

For the DMK and AIADMK-BJP combine, the additional contestant adds another variable to an already fragmented contest. For Chief Minister Vijay, the bypolls will be an early test of his ability to manage a government that depends on outside support from parties prepared to oppose him at the ballot box.

The Left maintains that there is no contradiction in its position. The October 6 contests in Madurantakam and Dharapuram will show whether that distinction also holds among voters.