People's Democracy

KERALA

Nava Kerala March Concludes

P P Aboobacker

A massive rally was organised in Thiruvananthapuram on February 25, 2009 marking the culmination of the Nava Kerala March. Over ten million people attended the rally. The march was led by CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan as part of the Party�s political campaign. CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat addressed the concluding rally. He asserted that a non-Congress secular government will assume power at the centre with the support of Left forces after the ensuing Lok Sabha polls. 2009 will not be repetition of 2004, he said. We must strive for a secular government at centre that will not yield to pressures of imperialism and that would ensure secularism in the country. Only a formation that will not have any role for the communal BJP and the Congress can protect the country�s unity and sovereignty, he added.

Karat said that only the CPI(M) led Left forces could prevent the BJP and Congress from coming to power in Delhi. The Left parties supported the Congress led alliance in 2004 to keep away the communal forces from power. But the Congress failed to protect the country�s interests. It succumbed to pressures of US imperialism. It miserably failed to tackle the communal forces.

It appears the Congress led UPA has been disintegrated even before the polls, he said.

The Congress did not learn any lesson from the crises caused by the neo-liberal policies. Instead, the Congress made all efforts to pursue the neo-liberal policies with great vigour. Our financial sector has been opened up for foreign capital. It flouted the guidelines set by the government in accepting foreign direct investments. The global recession has hit the country too. It would cause crisis in the farm and industrial sector. Prakash Karat questioned the Congress leadership about the measures it took to avert a crisis in the farm and industrial sectors.

Karat said that the Party will fight all the attempts made by its detractors and Congress party to malign the CPI(M) using the SNC Lavalin case in Kerala. The Congress was using the CBI as a tool to achieve its narrow political ends. The CPI(M) Politburo has made it clear that the SNC Lavalin case was politically motivated and the Party will fight the case politically and legally. The Party will continue its relentless fight against corruption and it would not tolerate corruption, he said.

The Nava Kerala March concluded at Shangumugham beach with a massive rally. Pinarayi Vijayan, state secretary, V S Achuthanandan, chief minister, also spoke at the rally.

The Nava Kerala march began from southernmost Kasargode district on February 2, 2009 and has covered all the districts and all the assembly segments. According to the organizers, as many as three million people attended the meetings held as part of this unique political campaign.

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