THE nearly two month long rule of Narendra Modi has starkly exposed its anti-people character and its pro-corporateness, said Tripura chief minister and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Manik Sarkar. The NDA government was taking forward UPA's anti-people policies much more forcefully. With both corporates and RSS actually running the government from behind, there is imminent danger of communalism spreading across the country. He called upon the working class, peasantry, poor and other downtrodden sections of the society to unite and resist this harmful agenda of Modi government. Manik Sarkar was addressing a huge rally on July 30 in Warangal city of Telangana state marking the inauguration of the Eighth All India Conference of the All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU). Around 850 delegates and observers from all parts of the country are attending this conference that will take place till August 4. The public meeting was presided over by Telangana AIAWU state president G Nagaiah. On the dais were AIAWU all India president Paturi Ramaiah, general secretary A Vijayaraghavan, AIKS all India general secretary Hannan Mollah, Subhashini Ali, AIAWU leader, CPI(M) Telangana state secretary Thammineni Veerabhadram, CPI(M) veteran leader and Telangana armed struggle fighter Mallu Swarajyam, CPI(M) MLA Sunnam Rajaiah and others. Earlier two huge rallies were taken out from two parts of the city that converged at the venue of the public meeting named Chakali Ailamma Nagar, in memory of the great fighter of Telangana armed struggle. Cultural performances, particularly depicting tribal culture is the main attraction of the rallies. Thousands of agricultural labourers from Warangal and Khammam districts turned out for the public meeting. Among those who led the rally included Telangana AIAWU state president G Nagaiah, state secretary B Venkat, APAWU state president V Venkateswarlu and state secretary P Muralikrishna. Manik Sarkar in his speech said the entire political picture of the country has changed with the general elections results. Both RSS and corporates have strived hard to see this government assume power and they are bound to extract their pound of flesh, felt the CPI(M) leader. Modi during his campaign had promised to rein in inflation and price rise but after assuming office has failed to do it. In fact, he has taken steps that would further fuel inflation and price rise. He quoted the increase in railway freight charges before the railway budget. In the union budget Modi government showered benefits to corporates while burdening the common man with higher indirect taxes. The government is trying to change the land acquisition laws in order to facilitate gifting of lands to corporates after forcibly acquiring them from poor peasants. Sarkar expressed serious concern at the engineering of communal clashes in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. He charged Modi government of adopting a pro-US line that was also reflected in the stance adopted on the question of Israeli attack on Gaza. He said the CPI(M) would be in the forefront to protect the rights and interests of agricultural workers who are facing dire situation due to neo-liberal policies of successive governments. AIAWU general secretary Vijayaraghavan in his speech said that while Congress-led UPA was a silent killer for people, BJP-led NDA is proving to be a violent killer. The NDA government is planning to further dilute the MGNREGA scheme that has been of help to agricultural workers in the country. The AIAWU with over 55 lakh members in the country would in this conference chalk out programmes to fight against the neo-liberal policies of the central government. CPI(M) Telangana state secretary Thammineni Veerabhadram addressing the rally said that we must establish People’s Rule (Prajarajyam) in Telangana and stressed the importance of launching joint struggles for achieving it. He demanded the government to implement land reforms and announce an action plan for doing it. CPI(M) veteran leader Mallu Swarajyam and CPI(M) MLA Sunnam Rajaiah also addressed the gathering.