People's Democracy

TRIPURA

CPI(M)  Alerts The People

Against Misleading Campaign

Haripada Das

THE state committee meeting of CPI(M)  held on December 11-12, 2007 reviewed the state situation and organisational matters in view of the ensuing Assembly elections to be held in February 2008. From the massive turn out of the people in two central rallies, one at a joint call of GMP, TYF and TSU on November 18, 2007 and other the ever largest congregation of working people of the state organised by CITU, it is clear that the people at large are all set to make the Left Front victorious in the forthcoming elections. This was also reflected in the huge turn out of the people particularly, new ones, in the meeting called for the formation of the booth-committees. The meeting felt there is a positive response of the people everywhere in favour of the Left Front.

The state committee meeting observed that as the opposition parties have been alienated by the people, they are depending on the extremist outfits and the miscreants to face the electorate. Their supporters are disassociating from them and are joining the Left Front. During the period since last meeting, 545 families both belonging to Congress and INPT joined Left Front. The leaders of both Congress and the INPT, who are keen to renew their wedlock following a short period of separation since 2004, are moving to the far flung bordering areas and even outside the state to negotiate with the extremists to utilise them to work in their favour.  The NLFT, an outlawed secessionist outfit has almost openly started to commit mischievous activities in favour of Congress-INPT alliance in some places. During this period, the extremists kidnapped 14 people from different parts of the state and subjected nine CPI(M) supporters to inhuman torture.  In spite of going all out, the outfits are unable to stall disintegration. 21 cadets of different groups of extremists have surrendered to the police with a good cache of arms/ammunitions/explosives including some sophisticated ones. Four hardcore extremists were killed in an encounter with the security jawans who recovered some sophisticated weapons.

The state committee warned against any complacency as the vested interests could go to any extent to vitiate the pre-poll atmosphere. The so-called Bengalee chauvinist outfits are also being activated. The meeting said any attempt to create violence and unrest must be sternly dealt with instant popular resistance. The slanders, distortions and misinformation campaign unleashed by a section of media and their patrons, the opposition parties must be befittingly refuted with reason and logic, and simultaneously, the development schemes already implemented by the Left Front government, their future programmes, and the relentless struggle of the people of the state to realise the state’s due from the unwilling hands of the centre must be highlighted in the Left Front campaign.  To ensure a far bigger Left Front victory in the next Assembly elections, all the Party comrades should fulfil their political-organisational responsibilities for translating the already positive mind-set of the people into the votes, the Party urged. 

The state committee also discussed the major issues facing the state including the food situation and public distribution system(PDS). It expressed deep anguish that following the dictates of the World Bank,IMF and WTO, the UPA government at the centre is trying to destroy the PDS and this has adversely affected the PDS in feeding the various programmes for the BPL families as well as supply of rice to the APL categories in the state. The state committee said that the central government has drastically curtailed the state’s monthly quota of rice from 22 MT to 10 MT. This unilateral curtailment was strongly protested by state government as well as the MPs of the state who met with the central Food minister and demanded restoration of earlier quota of the state. They also met FCI and Rail authorities with the demand to ensure regular inflow of food. Their assurance to transport even 10 MT per month also miserably failed because of collapse of a rail bridge at Lamding-Kumarghat portion of track which took several months to rebuild. The state government’s insistence on alternative transportation of food by roadways was paid no heed to by the centre.

The state committee noted that to conceal the utter negligence and incompetence of the central government, a section of the Congress leaders in the state are resorting to gherao some Food department officers and thus trying to mislead the people. The meeting said that these people never raised any demand to the central government regarding regular supply of ration goods, had no say for augmentation of the system, nor they demanded alternative transportation during blockade of road, and are now crying foul.

CPI(M) state committee urged the Party members and supporters to organise a week-long protest movement from December 13-20,  2007 all over the state to explain the facts behind the present food crisis and demand for restoration of full quota of rice for the state, for allocation of sufficient number of rakes for urgent lifting of food and thus refute the misleading campaign of the opposition parties.