People's Democracy

Samastipur Witnesses Massive Rally

THE Samastipur district committee of the party organised a massive rally at local Patel maidan on September 15 as a part of the August campaign. Sitaram Yechury, Polit Bureau member of CPI(M)addressed the gathering. He said that the central government could be forced to withdraw the anti-people policies only when pressure is mounted on it from both within the parliament and from outside through mass struggles. 

Patel maidan was filled with thousands of agricultural workers, peasants, students, youth and women, facing scorching sun with a determination to fight the anti-people policies of the government. Sitaram explained in detail the present political scenario of the country. He said that only due to the pressure of the Left parties the prices of kerosene oil and cooking gas remain unchanged while there has been a little hike in diesel and petrol prices. He said that it is the Left parties that forced the government to introduce national rural employment guarantee programme in 200 backward districts of the country. He said that under this scheme one member from each rural family is to be given hundred days employment in a year. He demanded that all the six hundred districts of the nation should be brought under this scheme with all the adult members of the family included in it. He cautioned the workers and peasants to be vigilant against the communal forces that are very dangerous for the unity and integration of the country. He expressed his anguish at the killing of innocent Muslims in Gujarat and innocent Hindus in Mumbai. He emphasised the need for building a militant mass struggle to combat communal forces so that peace and progress in the country can be guaranteed. Passing satires on those who ask about the future of the red flag, Sitaram explained that without red flag, no government can be formed at the centre and this is the very future of red flag. He said that only red flag led governments in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura which have better performances compared to other state governments. He said that the economic growth rate of centre is les than 6 per cent while that of West Bengal is 11 per cent. Criticising the economic policy of the country, Sitaram said that mass scale import of seeds through multi-nationals have forced nearly four thousand peasants in the country to commit suicide a year. At the end of his speech, he exhorted the fighter comrades to build up a strong and disciplined organisation so that the system based on exploitation can be done away with for a better future. Ganesh Shanker Vidyarthi, senior member of the party Central Committee while addressing the mass rally said that the state government led by Nitish Kumar has failed on all fronts within one year of its rule. He said that state police has became autocratic while murder, loot, rape and kidnapping have became the order of the day. He explained how criminals dominating politics and corruption are interfering in the day to day administration. He called upon party workers to build up resistance against the state government.

Ramdeo Verma, MLA and senior member of party state secretariat addressing the rally said that the Nitish Kumar government has abolished nearly two lakh thirty seven thousand permanent posts of primary teachers in the name of contractorisation. Ajay Kumar, district secretary of the party explained in detail the drought situation of the state and demanded that immediate relief should be provided to the suffering peasantry and agricultural workers. A resolution to declare Bihar ‘drought affected’ was proposed by him before the rally. Thousands of workers and peasants passed this resolution by raising hands in its support. Presided over by party state committee member Gangadhar Jha, the rally was also addressed by Dinesh Kumar, state secretary of AIAWU, Manoj Kumar Sunil, state secretary of SFI, Dinesh Singh state committee member of the Party, Manoj Kumar Gupta Ram Dayal Bharti, Bhola Prasad Deewakar, Raghunath Roy, Arvind Kumar Das, Ramashraya Nahto and Surendra Prasad Yadav- all district functionaries of the party.

The party district committee in its meeting in mid-July itself had chalked out a plan to make this rally a grand success. Nearly hundred mass meetings at panchayat level and three hundred fifty group meetings were conducted in which the main demands of the August campaign were explained to the masses by district and local level leaders of the party.