People's Democracy

Scenes Of Jubilation At AKG Bhavan

THERE were scenes of jubilation at the CPI(M)  headquarters A  K Gopalan Bhavan here on Thursday afternoon as the results represented a historic high in terms of number of seats won by the CPI(M) and the Left in general in any Lok Sabha election since independence. Hundreds of Party and mass organisations activists thronged the office carrying huge party flags and chanting slogans “CPI(M) Zindabad” and “This is a historic beginning” etc. They also shouted slogans hailing the decisive defeat of the communal combine.

Addressing the workers, Party Polit Bureau members Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury said the mandate cast a huge responsibility on the Left and the CPI(M) in particular to bring about a pro-people change in the policies of the union government. They stressed that the damage done to the secular character of our republic needs to be undone by the future secular government at the centre.

Another point stressed by the leaders was that the Kerala results made it clear that where there was a choice between Left and Congress, the people reposed faith in the Left as more consistent fighters against communalism and as advocates of pro-people economic policies. They stressed the need to carry further the struggles in the coming time for a directional shift in economic policies and the foreign policy, which had been made blatantly pro-American under the BJP-led NDA government.