Chennai:The Left Front is set to announce its stand on the Madurantakam and Dharapuram bypolls on Sunday, with the CPM and CPI scheduled to convene meetings of their respective top committees ahead of the formal announcement.Speaking to reporters in Chennai, CPM state secretary P Shanmugam said the party’s decision would be announced after an emergency meeting of its state committee in Tiruchi. “We held detailed discussions on our stance on the bypolls. Given their political significance, we decided to place the matter before the state committee,” Shanmugam said after an executive committee meeting at the party headquarters. The CPM leader said the party had already made its position clear against “horse-trading” and remained firm on the issue.CPI state secretary M Veerapandian said his party would also convene a meeting of its highest decision-making body on Sunday to take a final call.A senior party functionary who attended Saturday’s video conference said Veerapandian had strongly criticised the TVK’s approach and the alleged poaching of MLAs, calling it a “clear case of horse-trading”. He also questioned how the Left could continue supporting the TVK under such circumstances.
