Left parties to go alone in Tamil Nadu

Left with not much of an option, the two communist parties Thursday announced they were calling off their alliance with Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK for the Lok Sabha elections.

In a joint statement, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said that they have decided to contest the general elections alone.

The two parties were unhappy with AIADMK's offer of one seat each.

The AIADMK had announced its list of candidates for all the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies (39 in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry, with party chief J.Jayalalithaa saying that the party's candidates would withdraw in favour of the Left candidates once the seat sharing deals conclude.

According to the left parties, they decided to join hands with AIADMK to defeat the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.