People's Democracy

HARYANA

Left Initiates Issue-Based Campaign

THE people of Haryana have been hit by three things at one and the same time --- the drought, the back-breaking price escalations and the utter insensitivity of the state government. Of late, they suffered a fourth attack as well --- from the untimely heavy downpour and the consequent floods in some parts of the state. This gives an indication of the excruciating situation of the people here during the run-up to the state assembly polls.

These polls are scheduled to take place on October 13 and the process has already started with their notification on September 18. However, despite the time for campaigning being so short, various parties are eager to see who are the candidates being put up by others, and the aim is to reckon as to what casteist permutations and combinations can be evolved in various constituencies. But the CPI(M) and the CPI have already issued the first list of their candidates and started their campaign. (See the list of candidates alongside.)

The abhorrent inner-party clashes of the Congress party on the issue of ticket distribution came out into the street fights in various parts of the state. At the same time, in case of the non-Left parties which have issued their partial lists, many of those who have failed to grab a ticket have switched over to other parties or are in the process of doing so.

All the 11 CPI(M) nominees who are in the first CPI(M)-CPI list, have been and are in the forefront of mass struggles in their respective districts or areas. While one of these 11 candidates is a woman, three are from the scheduled castes and three are from backward classes. Three of them have been active among the agricultural workers, and are now striving to organise the workers in the unorganised sectors of economy. Three others are working on the kisan front and one on the women�s front. Seven of the CPI(M) candidates are graduates and two are advocates.

The CPI(M) campaign started with a Kisan Sabha meeting in Siwani where more than 150 AIKS activists resolved to extend support to Dayanand Puniya who had been leading militant struggles of the peasantry for the last several years. Harpal Singh, Phool Singh Sheokand, Krishna Swaroop, Master Sher Singh and other state leaders attended this meeting.

At Barwala, on September 15, CPI(M) state secretary Inderjit Singh addressed a meeting of more than 500 activists and inaugurated the election office of the CPI(M) candidate Suresh Kumar.

While organising joint meetings of their activists in various districts and constituencies, the CPI(M) and the CPI are currently in the process of organising their election machinery down to the polling booth level. By the time we received this report, such joint activist meetings had been held in Raniya, Sirsa, Bhuna, Fatehabad, Ratia, Tohana, Asandh, Panchkula, Samalakha, Julana, Rohtak, Bhattu, Behal, Loharu and several other places. When the CPI(M) and CPI candidates filed their nomination papers, they were accompanied by state level leaders of the two parties as well as MLAs and other leaders from Rajasthan and also by leaders from Punjab. National level leaders of the two parties will address a series of CPI(M)-CPI election meetings during the period from October 3 to 10 coming.