People's Democracy

THE present Vajpayee government is behaving like a slave of the US imperialism. Yet, opposition to globalisation has spread from Seattle to Doha, so much so that even the ICFTU was compelled, first time in its history, to call upon all the working masses to observe a protest day. All the proponents of the capitalist system have categorically stated that this crisis is irreversible and its fatality is such that the entire system faces a complete crash. This was what M K Pandhe, member of the CPI(M) Polit Bureau, said while delivering his inaugural speech at the party’s Gujarat state conference.

The CPI(M)’s tenth state conference took place in Vajubhai Shukla Nagar, in Nanda Hall, Rajkot, over January 15-16.

Pandhe also dwelt on how the attack of globalisation is shattering our country’s economy. Small-scale industries are being effaced. Foreign agricultural produce is flooding our markets. Public sector units are being swept off like a pack of cards.

Pandhe graphically demonstrated how labour laws are being sought to be amended in an anti-labour mould. There is a threat of our constitution being remolded in an anti-secular direction. The state is being shaped in a theocratic mould with religion and astrology dominating education and culture. The BJP is seeking to rake up the Ayodhya issue in UP polls. Hence defence of secularism is going to be our key plank in UP, and the people’s anti-LPG anger is sure to overpower the BJP’s Hindutva gesture. There is no doubt that the Vajpayee government at the centre is breathing its last.

Subodh Mehta, secretary of the Gujarat state committee of the CPI(M), presented the state committee’s report to the conference. The report revealed that Gujarat’s indebtedness has reached a staggering figure of Rs 28,804 crore --- up from 17 per cent of the state domestic product (SDP) to 26 per cent. In addition, 10 per cent has to be set apart in reserve permanently, as committed by the state to the centre. According to official reports, the rate of growth in the state is fast coming down. The state’s SDP is of the order of Rs 50,000 crore and the annual income Rs 11,000 crore. Agriculture’s share in it has come down to 28 per cent from 70 per cent earlier. According to a survey, the production of 44 lakh peasants in the state was valued at Rs 17,000 crore at current prices, and the figure is fast coming down.

The fiscal deficit that stood at 2.15 per cent of the SDP has gone up to 5 per cent. Revenue deficit has increased nine times compared to 1995-96.

Such severe jolts to the state’s economy have been the gifts of the BJP misrule that is very speedily carrying out the LPG diktat of the Asian Development Bank. Due to import liberalisation, more than 85,000 small scale industrial units have completely closed down, rendering about 7 lakh workers jobless with no alternative left.

It was in this situation that the powerloom owners in the state took out a huge protest rally against the state government. The rally was a unique one as the participants came out half-naked in protest against Narendra Modi. It is known that Modi himself endeavoured to cut off Gujarat’s entire powerloom industry from the huge national allocation to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore meant to take the textile industry out of its present crisis. This was part of the BJP’s internal factionalism, and Modi played the mischief to make the union textile minister Kanshiram Rana appear inefficient.

Similarly, Amreli’s agrarian population badly suffered because in the Gram Panchayat elections last year, Modi group tried to spoil the Amreli faction’s performance though, on the contrary, the latter succeeded. As a punishment for this ‘crime,’ the villagers’ subsidies were delayed for long. The peasants agitated and took out a huge rally --- half-naked.

The peasants’ plight is further worsening with the free import of Denmark milk, Switzerland apples, and American maze, cotton and cottonseeds, which the MNCs are effecting. On the other hand, they are also trying to kill the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) alongwith its famous "operation flood" and Amul Dairy, the milk dairy brilliance.

The World Bank-dictated electricity tariff hike is also looting rural sector. It is priced at Rs 7 per unit. Hence, a huge unrest is taking shape.

More than 40 places across the western coast have been mortgaged to the MNCs. In case of the lease-out of 2 lakhs strong Umbergao port town, a former navy major was murdered. Ultimately, the people’s movement emerged victorious and the concerned MNC fled.

It is in such a background that Narendra Modi, Vajpayee’s pet, is seeking a seat in the assembly from Rajkot, to keep himself in the chief minister’s post. On the other hand, Congress chief Amarshinh Chowdhary, a leader under the BJP’s pressure, has manoeuvred to put up a weak candidate against Modi.

Since the last state conference held at Bhavnagar 4 years back, constant action programmes were undertaken by the CPI(M). All these actions evoked encouraging response and were joined by a good number of people. All the units and members of the party tirelessly worked during these 4 years. Some of the actions were as follows:

September 18, 1998: Gujarat bandh for the first time. It was against the steep hike in edible oil prices. The success of the Bhavnagar district bandh encouraged the CPI(M) to call for a Gujarat bandh. The Congress, as never earlier, felt compelled to join because of mass pressure. RJP of Vaghela also joined. The bandh got response even in remotest villages of Kutch.

November 23, 2000: The day was observed in defence of secularism, especially against the Sangh Parivar’s attacks on Christians. At the call of the AIDWA, all women’s organisations joined in large numbers. More than 3,000 women from other states and more than 2,000 from Gujarat joined the rally at Ahmedabad. Thousands of them were from the unorganised mass.

January 26, 2001: At once after the terrific earthquake in the state, CPI(M) units rose like one man for relief and rehabilitation work. The party’s all-India centre also moved in to collect money and material. Help from Kerala CPI(M) exceeded Rs one crore. On November 19, E K Nayanar, former chief minister of Kerala, laid the foundation stone of a 150-room edifice at Piplia Chowki; the new village was named "Niruben Patel Gaon."

September 27, 2001: In response to the nationwide satyagrah call against the BJP rule, thousands of CPI(M) members and supporters courted arrest. Its units worked round the clock, and 9131 persons came forward to court arrest. Under the ruse of shortage of vehicles, the police arrested only 6,134.

March 29, 2001: CPI(M) men were active in making the rally programme a success. It was organised by Gujarat Jan Samgathan Manch, the state unit of the NPMO. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member M K Pandhe also addressed the rally. It was conceded to be a big anti-LPG demonstration at the state level.

April 16, 2001: Our Gujarat bandh call got a big success in several urban and rural centres. But only partial response at many places prevented it from becoming a statewide success.

September 30, 2001: At Bhavnagar, the NPMO’s state level convention, took place, representing a membership of more than 15 lakhs.

The party got 6,000 shelter-homes on 25 square metre plots built for the urban poor. It was during the Chimanbhai Patel regime that the idea of giving the poor 25 sq m plots was adopted for 6 corporation areas. But it was implemented only in Bhavnagar corporation that was then under the CPI(M) auspices.

A major event was that in Bhavnagar municipal corporation, employees affiliated to various unions united to struggle under the CITU union. The Dalit workers gheraoed the corporation for 3 days. All the associations of Bhavnagar merchants supported that action. Ultimately BJP leaders of the corporation yielded and signed an agreement with the CITU union. The agreement benefited 943 employees. Encouraged by the Bhavnagar struggle, our union in the Ahmedabad municipal corporation also fought a victorious straggle and got 200 casuals regularised in the engineering department.

The CPI(M)’s struggle helped to get sanctioned a broad gauge railway line between Surendra Nagar and Bhavnagar. All parties and sections supported the CPI(M). The CPI(M)’s efforts also led to the construction of a panchayat building at Muval in Vadodra district. CPI(M) supporters run a college here.

At Bahmana village in Vadodra district, the Kisan Sabha and others acquired 200 plots and handed them over to the needy. A plot was also given to the same to land cooperative formed there.

At Junagadh, there was a rail roko and bandh under the CPI(M)’s leadership. All parties including the Congress cooperated.

The state CPI(M)’s organ Chintan (Gujarati language) has overfulfilled the target of 5,000 yearly subscriptions. Now the target is 10,000 subscriptions in the next 3 years.

In Bhavnagar municipal corporation, the CPI(M) has won 4 seats (including a woman), compared to one corporator earlier. The party lost 3 other seats with the margin of less than 100 votes each.

The CPI(M) organised a warm reception for an AIDWA delegation that visited Ahmedabad and met the governor on the issue of protection of minorities. The CPI(M) was the only party to intervene on the issue.

At Upleta, even merchants and big farmers welcomed the CPI(M)’s intervention. At Sidhpur, the party’s prestige as a secular organisation has soared high.

The CPI(M) was the only party to defend the hutment dwellers and footpath vendors from the recent demolition attack launched by the government of Gujarat.

The report thoroughly exposed the ways in which the BJP government’s subordination to the LPG policies is threatening the state’s economy. The report was unanimously adopted by the conference, after 30 delegates had participated in a detailed discussion on it. The state conference declared that the CPI(M) would try its level best to see Modi defeated.

The same resolve was reiterated in a huge mass rally in Sorathiya Chauk, addressed among others by M K Pandhe, Sukomal Sen and Subodh Mehta.

According to the report submitted by the 4-member credentials committee, 154 delegates from 10 ten districts attended the conference. The age group distribution said there were 28 delegates in the 18-30 years bracket, 72 of 31 to 45 years of age, 49 in the age group 46 to 60, and 5 above it. Thus the youth were preponderant in this conference.

Income-wise, 37 delegates had an income below Rs 1000; 43 in the range of Rs 1000-2000; 17 in the range of Rs 2000-3000; 6 in the range of Rs 3000-4000 and 14 in the range of Rs 4000-5000. Those who did not reveal their incomes numbered 24.

Education-wise, 26 were graduates and post graduates while 18 were illiterate. Some of the delegates did not reveal their educational levels.

Occupation-wise, 37 were in service, 13 in agricultural occupations, 8 were agricultural workers, 28 were general workers, and 16 were wholetimers. Those who did not show their occupations numbered 36.

Front-wise, 58 were on the working class front, 21 on kisan front, 5 on khet mazdoor front, 26 on women’s front, 20 were working among youth, 5 among students, 12 among other sections, and 7 in the party organisation.

According to their class origins, 81 delegates belonged to the working class, 18 to the peasantry, 8 to the agricultural workers, and 31 to the middle class. Those who did not show their class origins numbered 16.

The year-wise increase in party membership is as below: 1993 – 1485; 1994 – 1504; 1995 -- 1842; 1996 -- 2225; 1997 -- 2303; 1998 -- 2578; 1999 -- 2531; and 2000 -- 2799. At present the membership is well over 3000.

The conference adopted resolutions on the atrocities inflicted upon Dalits and minorities, with a call to fight them back; on crimes committed against women; privatisation of education; famine relief and severe water shortage; implementation of labour laws; electricity rate hike; in defence of secular system; against liberalisation; and in opposition to water charge increases.

The conference elected Arun Mehta, Pragjibhai Bhambhi, Batuk Makvana, Naginbhai Patel and Kanubhai Kalavadia as delegates for the coming party congress, Naliniben Jadeja as observer, and Bhupat Mer and Ramchandran as alternate delegates.

Sukomal Sen, in his concluding address, laid emphasis on firmly building the organisation and expanding on the basis of Marxism-Leninism. He stressed the inescapable need of ideological battles against imperialism that is triggering ethnic strifes globally.

The conference elected a 35-member new state committee that elected Arun Mehta the new state secretary.