People's Democracy

Teesra Morcha Formed In Delhi

IN a significant political move, most of the national level opposition parties have come together in Delhi and their Delhi units have formed the Teesra Morcha (Third Front). At a press conference at Delhi, the CPI(M), CPI, SJP, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (Secular) and Rashtriya Janata Dal declared the formation of a Teesra Morcha at the Delhi level to fight the anti-poor policies and the misrule of the BJP-led central government and the Congress-led Delhi state government.

The statement issued by leaders of the Teesra Morcha said the most glaring example of the anti-people policies of the central and the state governments could be seen in their current three-pronged drive to rid Delhi of its poor public. The relentless drive for the closure of industrial units in non-conforming areas, demolition of jhuggis and the forcible removal of the rehri-pattis, khomchas and rickshaw-pullers will render to 20 lakh persons unemployed, leading to untold misery for the middle class and the poor.

On top of this, there is a proposal to impose a steep hike in the power tariff which will go up substantially for the poor marginal user.

The Congress-led Delhi government has been implementing the NDA government’s policy of privatisation of the power sector. In Delhi, by handing over the distribution of power in the slum areas to private contractors, the Delhi government has already forced and increased the burden on the poor, apart from encouraging corruption.

The central level leaders of all the constituent parties were present at the press conference. Jogendra Sharma, member of the CPI(M) Central Committee, said the six parties have come together to fight for the rights of the common people of Delhi. The Morcha will join issues with both the central as well as the state government against the way the people’s life and livelihood were being attacked.

Shoaib Iqbal, MLA and member of the Janata Dal (Secular), said the Morcha had been formed at the Delhi level, irrespective of the concerned parties’ perceptions at the national level. Raj Singh Mann and Jaibhagwan Jatav (RJD), Raj Kumar Jain (SJP) and Mahender Yadav (Samajwadi Party) all confirmed that the Teesra Morcha will jointly fight for the rights of the common man in Delhi and that this was a new beginning in Delhi politics which has a large representative population from every part of the nation. They felt that the citizens of Delhi were fed up with both the Congress and the BJP and their successive governments that have reduced the city to a shambles. They said the present situation had led to a colossal waste of resources and mandays. The successive Delhi governments have let those people go scot-free who had amassed large sums of money by allowing the industries to flourish. Not one of them was punished but thousands of units were closed down, bringing suffering to lakhs of people and destroying the economy of Delhi.

The Teesra Morcha has decided to launch a massive agitation and to bring the misrule of both the BJP as well as the Congress to the notice of the citizens of Delhi who are the main sufferers.