Plantation parties to contest polls on UPFA ticket

by P. Krishnaswamy

A majority of the trade union based political parties representing the plantation community are to contest the February 7 Provincial Council polls on UPFA ticket. Following this favourable trend UPFA sources expressed optimism of a landslide victory in the polls.

Muthu Sivalingam, Deputy Minister of Estate Infrastructure Development and leader of the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) told the Sunday Observer that their decision to contest the PC polls on the UPFA symbol was prompted by the unprecedented level of development work undertaken in the plantation sector by the ruling UPFA administration. He told the Sunday Observer that under theMahinda Chintanaya multi-faceted development projects were launched for the benefit of the plantation people.

Cabinet approval was granted to a 10-year `National Action Plan' envisaging many development projects, including construction of roads, 200,000 housing units, power supply and setting up educational and health institutions, in the plantation sector, Sivalingam said.

Leaders of other organisations/parties representing the up-country Tamils which are contesting the polls in alliance with the UPFA also expressed similar sentiments as the CWC President. V. Puththirasigamoney, leader of the Up-country National Workers' Union and Deputy Minister of Justice and Law Reform, O. A. Ramiah, General Secretary of the Communist Party's Ceylon Plantation Workers' Red Flag Union (CPWRU), S. Arulsamy, Minister of Tamil Education in the last Central PC and leader of the Workers' Liberation Front (WLF) and Digambaram, former member of the council and leader of the National Union of Workers (NUW) are also contesting the polls on the UPFA ticket.

Upcountry People's Front (UPF) central committee member and Deputy Minister of Vocational and Technical Training, P. Radhakrishnan said that the plantation community was going through a phase of hitherto unsurpassed development process under the Mahinda Chintanaya.

A decision whether they would contest the polls in alliance with the UPFA would be made known after the return of their leader, Minister Periyasamy Chandrasekaran, from an overseas visit.

Meanwhile the Ceylon Workers' Alliance (CWA) led by T. V. Chennan, former MP for Badulla and PC member said that they were negotiating with UPFA leaders on the number of candidates to be fielded under their common alliance.