People's Democracy

CPI(M) CAMPAIGN IN TAMILNADU

�Vote For Left And Secular Allies�

S P Rajendran

PRAKASH Karat, CPI(M) general secretary has urged the voters of Tamilnadu to vote for CPI(M) and its secular allies in the forthcoming general elections to help install a pro-people and secular non-Congress/ non-BJP-led government at the centre.

Speaking at a public meeting organised at Thiruppur, the city of garments, as part of the statewide campaign in Tamilnadu, Karat promised the people that the Party�s struggle for economic emancipation of people would go along with the struggle for their social emancipation.

�It was only because of the pressure of the Left parties that the Manmohan Singh-led government implemented the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which eventually provided a member of every family in the rural areas an assured 100 days work a year.

Similarly, it was the struggle led by Left parties for two years in parliament that made the House pass a law to allow the tribals, who were one of the most oppressed sections of population, to have the right to hold two-and-a-half hectares of land in the forests. He said the Party takes pride for not allowing the United Progressive Alliance government to sell the banking, insurance and other financial sectors to foreign capital, by offering stiff opposition both inside parliament and outside.

�It is only because of such steps by Left parties that the banks in our country did not collapse even as the financial institutions in the United States crumbled,� he added. The CPI(M) had also opposed foreign direct investment in retail trade sector in the country. Karat accused the central government of not taking adequate steps to stop job losses owing to recession.

�By March, one crore of people are set to lose jobs in the country,� he said, adding that already 71 people in diamond and gem trade in Gujarat had committed suicide after they lost jobs.

WEEKLONG

CAMPAIGN

The CPI(M) Tamilnadu state committee conducted a week-long campaign from seven places in the state propagating the alternative policies for the welfare of the people.

Party state secretary N Varadharajan from Theni, T K Rengarajan, MP, from Vellore, W R Varadharajan from Erode, G Ramakrishnan from Cuddalore, and UVasuki from Tanjavur, all central committee members of the Party, led the campaign. CPI(M) state secretariat member M N S Venkattaraman and state committee member D Lakshmanan led another two campaign teams from Thoothukudi and Virudhunagar respectively, both southern districts. These teams concluded their weeklong campaign respectively at Dindigul, Chennai, Coimbatore, Nagapattinam, Trichy, Marthandam and Madurai.

Hundreds of workers and farmers received these teams with Red flags, traditional dance and songs throughout the way. All the teams campaigned through many villages and small towns and getting warm reception from all walks of the people, particularly the working class. And, a number of reception meetings and public meetings were also held.

As part of this huge campaign movement, massive public meetings were conducted in Thiruppur, Palani, Thoothukudi, Thirupparankunram, Nagaprttinam, Marthandam and Chennai. CPI(M) general Secretary Prakash Karat, Polit Bureau members Sitaram Yechury, Brinda Karat, and K Varadharajan, Kerala educational minister M A Baby, central committee member Subhashini Ali were among those who addressed these meetings. Party state leaders including CC member A K Padmanaban participated in the campaign.