People's Democracy

Nationwide Protest Day on September 20

Leaders of the Samajwadi Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Telugu Desam Party, Biju Janata Dal, Janata Dal (S), All India Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party issued the following statement on September 15, 2012.

THE UPA government has stuck cruel blows on the people one after another. 

1) It has raised the price of diesel by Rs 5 per litre, stoking price rise and burdening the farmers.

2) It has limited the subsidised gas cylinder per family to six, and the rest will have to be bought at the market price which is more than double.

3) It has opened the multi-brand retail trade to foreign supermarket chains, endangering the livelihood of more than four crore people occupied in retail trade and the mass of consumers.

4) It is selling off shares of profitable public sector units and navaratna companies like NALCO and Oil India.

We appeal to the people to rise in protest against these anti-people measures. 

We appeal to the farmers, workers, women and youth to join the protest.

We appeal to the transporters, shopkeepers and traders organisations to join the struggle.

We appeal to all sections of the people, all patriotic-minded citizens to join the movement.

Let us all unite to stop these measures which will further burden the people and ruin their livelihood.

Let there be a powerful protest on September 20 through hartals, picketings, demonstrations and court arrest programmes. 

Signatories to the statement were Mulayam Singh Yadav (president, Samajwadi Party), H D Deve Gowda (president, Janata Dal-S), Prakash Karat (general secretary, CPI-M), S Sudhakar Reddy (general secretary, CPI), Naveen Patnaik (president, BJD), Chandrababu Naidu (president, TDP), Debabrata Biswas (general secretary, AIFB) and T J Chandrachoodan (general secretary, RSP).