People's Democracy

Muralidharan

THOUSANDS of people thronged the Pradarshini Padia (Exhibition Grounds), re-christened the Bhagawati Charan Panigrahi Nagar, after the late founder-secretary of the undivided CPI in Orissa. The rally turned out to be the highest ever mobilisation by the CPI(M) in Orissa. Marching three kilometres from Bhubaneswar railway station, the participants shouted slogans calling for reversal of the economic policies of liberalisation and privatisation; defeating the communal designs of the BJP-RSS affiliates; supporting the February action by the kisan-agricultural workers’ organisations, providing drought relief to the people of Orissa, etc.

Party units from twenty-five out of the thirty districts of the state had put in their best and mobilised to make the rally a memorable event. Notable in performance among the districts were Balasore, Sundargrah, Sambalpur, Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj. The aged and the young; men and women, workers and peasants marched in unison to take on the might of the ruling classes and warn them that their policies will not be taken lying down.

Some of them had come a day earlier and were seen carrying bag and baggage in hand; undernourished children clinging on to their fragile mothers, but yet with no less of spirit than the other rallyists. They had come from the far-flung drought-affected districts; it was just some time ago that some had come face to face with death in the form of the super-cyclone.

Their plight was given voice to by Sivaji Patnaik, veteran leader of the CPI(M) in Orissa, who delivered the welcome address at the public meeting. Emphasising the point further, Orissa state committee secretary and president of the meeting, Janardan Pati said that both the Vajpayee-led government at the centre and the BJD-BJP alliance government in Orissa had failed to rise to the occasion to meet this calamity.

Addressing the gathering, CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet deplored the irresponsible attitude of the state and the central governments on this question. He called for broadening the struggle against the economic policies of the BJP-led government which has heaped miseries on the people and compromised its economic sovereignty. More and more sections of the people are coming out against these policies, Surjeet said. Warning against the attempts by the BJP to whip up communal frenzy, Surjeet appealed to the secular forces to defeat the nefarious game of the communal forces.

Speaking in chaste Bengali, veteran CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Jyoti Basu reminded the people that 24 years of uninterrupted rule in West Bengal by the Left Front is a new and unprecedented event in the history of the country and the world. The smooth running of the LF ministry even after he had relinquished office voluntarily, Basu noted, shows the inner strength of the LF, and is a fitting reply to our adversaries who had predicted otherwise. This has become a reality thanks to the unstinted support of the people, who have seen the CPI(M) and the Left Front. All attempts to destabilise it will be defeated.

The NDA alliance, Basu pointed out, is a combination of 24 parties who have opportunistically aligned with the sole purpose of capturing power. All sections of the people are up in arms against the government, he said. He was hopeful that the struggle against the policies of the government would intensify in the days ahead.

While warning against any attempt at dislodging the duly elected Left Front government of West Bengal, E K Nayanar, Polit Bureau member and chief minister of Kerala, said that the LDF government in Kerala is adopting a two-pronged strategy. "One is to ensure the overall development of the state in the long run, and the other is to ensure the well-being of the weaker sections by granting relief such as doles, old age pension etc."

The People’s Plan movement, Nayanar said, has "received world acclaim." For the first time in the history of India’s planning, local bodies have been given a chance to shape their own development programme. Re-emphasising the necessity to build the third alternative, Nayanar said "the setting up of a third front is the need of the hour. In order to defeat the anti-people BJP and its cohorts, all secular and democratic forces should come together.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and Tripura chief minister, Manik Sarkar, also addressed the meeting.