People's Democracy

THE Left presidential candidate, Dr. (Capt.) Lakshmi Sahgal received a very warm welcome in the city of Kolkata. On arrival at the Kolkata airport on the morning of July 2, Dr. (Capt.) Sahgal was felicitated by a large assemblage comprising mostly students, youth, and women who waved red flags, shouted slogans, and offered her the red salute.

Capt. Sahgal then proceeded to the Bengal legislature where she addressed the MLA’s and where the Bengal chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, welcomed her. Bhattacharjee said how Dr Sahgal’s candidature meant the clear demarcation of the Left and its allies from the forces of right reaction and their cohorts. Capt. Sahgal also met the speaker, Hasim Abdul Halim.

After a brief interval, Capt. Sahgal went on to meet the Kolkata media at a function organised in the Kolkata Press Club. Here she fielded a wide variety of questions.

Explaining the stand adopted by the Left and its allies in the presidential polls, Capt. Sahgal said that the nation faced a crisis today what with the BJP poised to try to change the Indian constitution for the worse. She emphasised the importance of maintaining the unity and integrity of the nation and said that the vile attempt being made to vitiate the ambience of communal harmony in the country must be resisted. Democracy in India itself was in grave danger, said Capt. Sahgal.

Refuting the allegation that her candidature was a token one, Capt. Sahgal said that the fight was one of political principle. She believed that in the present difficult circumstances the nation was passing through, the President of India should be a person who would refuse to play the role of a meek rubber stamp to the ruling government in Delhi. The task of the day was to espouse secularism and uphold the sanctity of the Indian constitution.

In the evening, a packed gathering at the Kolkata University Institute Hall welcomed Capt. Sahgal. Felicitating the presidential candidate of the Left and its allies, CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Jyoti Basu said that Dr. (Capt.) Lakshmi Sahgal had the right credentials to be considered for the post of the President of India. She was a trade union activist, she was deeply involved in the women’s movement, and she was an uncompromising soldier of mass struggle.

Sharply critical of the choice of the rocket technologist Dr, Abdul Kalam as the Presidential candidate by the BJP, Jyoti Basu said that the ability to put together missiles could hardly be regarded as a criterion for consideration for the highest post in the country.

Basu was also critical of some of the recent statements of Dr. Kalam where the latter had declared that a nuclear balance of terror which had kept India and Pakistan away from war. "How then did Kargil happen?" questioned Basu. The sin committed by the BJP in Gujarat, said Basu, would never be absolved through their nomination of Dr. Kalam as their candidate for the post of President of India.

Jyoti Basu described Dr. (Capt.) Lakshmi Sahgal as the people’s candidate and urged upon the people’s representatives in the parliament, and the legislative assemblies to cast their vote according to their conscience.

Addressing the gathering, Dr. (Capt.) Lakshmi Sahgal said that she regarded the goal and aim for which a struggle was fought as of primary importance compared to mere arithmetic. The fight was around the issue of the unity and integrity of the nation and that it was a political fight. She compared the Left and its allies’ battle for the post of the President of India to that waged by the Indian National Army, which despite being heavily outnumbered and outgunned, had nevertheless succeeded in delivering the first important body blow to the British on the battlefields.

Left Front chairman Biman Basu who presided over the function said that Dr. (Capt.) Lakshmi Sahgal deserved the full and complete electoral support of every democracy loving, secular-minded, patriotic parliamentarian, and legislator. Ashok Ghosh, veteran leader of the All-India Forward Bloc, too, spoke on the occasion.

Bouquets of flowers were offered to Dr. (Capt.) Sahgal by the Left Front leadership and by the leaders of the Left women’s organisations during the meeting.