THOUSANDS of activists belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India observed a dawn-to-dusk hunger strike across Tamil Nadu on September 1, condemning anti-people policies of the state and central governments.

This was a culmination of the statewide and weeklong propaganda and agitation programme in response of the call of the Left parties. CPI(M) state secretary G Ramakrishnan and CPI state secretary D Pandian led the protest at Chennai. Left leaders including CPI (M) Central Committee members TK Rangarajan MP, U Vasuki, K Balakrishnan and P Sampath led the fast at various centers including the major cities Madurai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Tiruppur and Salem etc.

Vehemently attacking the Modi government at the centre, the leaders said the central government had been imposing Hindutva agenda on people. It also tried to inject communalism in education and culture. Communal clashes were on the rise in northern states after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power, they charged.

The speakers also condemned allowing foreign investments in crucial sectors such as defence and insurance sector. The BJP was following the footsteps of the Congress in liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation policies.

The Left parties also flayed the NDA government at the centre for attempting to buy unprecedented quantity of military equipment worth Rs 10 lakh crore from the US, for the first time since independence. The US equipments that are generously available in black markets across the globe have become sub-standard. Besides, the government has decided to allow foreign direct investment in defence production, especially that of US funds, the leaders said.

Within three months after coming to power, the BJP government had increased rail passenger and freight fares leading to rise in prices of essential commodities and vegetables, the Left leaders said.

Expressing discontent over the recent launch of financial inclusion programme under the banner of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana across India, the leaders said there was no point in opening bank accounts for all households without ensuring their employability. Though banking accounts were opened for the people who did not have one, they had not been empowered to earn and save money in their accounts, they said.

’DEMOCRACY

MISSING’

The leaders criticised the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu also. Chief minister, Jayalalithaa, who used to be vociferous against the hike of petrol, diesel prices by the Congress-led government in the past was now soft on the issue when the BJP-led central government was doing the same. She was also not raising her voice against the increasing FDI and selling state equities in public sector units, leaders of the Left parties charged.

Sand smuggling was continuing unabated in the state in violation of the High Court orders on protecting the environment, they complained. They also charged that democracy was missing in the state assembly. Corruption was rampant in all sectors and law and order is deteriorating in the state. Grave crimes in the forms of murder, kidnap, robbery, and violence against dalits and women were on the rise, they alleged.

Other than the state level issues, in various centres the CPI(M) leaders raised important local issues and the lethargic attitude of the state government. Particularly, in Dindigul, over seven lakh coconut trees were destroyed owing to drought. The government did not take any efforts to protect farmers.

In Tiruppur, CPI(M) leaders asked the district administration to initiate steps to ensure drinking water supply in the industrial cluster at least on alternate days and improve the facilities as well as man power at the District Headquarters hospital.

In Tirunelveli, the government, which had allowed the Coke to set up its plant and draw several lakh litres of water every day from the river Tamirabharani, was pushing the people towards drought as the Pepsi, another multinational beverage maker, had been allowed to have its manufacturing unit at Gangaikondan, which was also going to take several lakh litres of water from the perennial river.

By-poll for Local Bodies

CPI (M-CPI Protest AIADMK’s Fraud

CPI(M) state secretary G Ramakrishnan on September 6 demanded a detailed probe into the widespread irregularities and fraud committed by the ruling AIADMK in the run-up to the September 18 by-elections to the local bodies in Tamil Nadu.

By-elections are to be held for thousand more vacant places in the local bodies. Unfortunately, the opposition parties like DMK, DMDK, MDMK and PMK took a position to abstain from the elections. But opportunistically the so called allies of the BJP in the state DMDK, MDMK and PMK announced their support for the party. The Congress took a strange position, which is, contesting in urban bodies and abstaining from rural bodies. But the Left parties, CPI(M) and CPI are facing the elections unitedly.

CPI (M) is contesting mayoral election for Coimbatore city and municipal chairperson election for Cuddalore. C Padmanaban, senior leader of CPI (M) Coimbatore district committee filed nomination for the mayor post. G Madhavan, AIKS leader, will stand for Cuddalore chairperson post. And, for various posts ranging from gram panchayat president, union panchayat ward members and district panchayat members, CPI (M) and CPI nominees are contesting.

BJP is also contesting in various places and its new leader Tamilisai Soundararajan has been claiming that the contest is only between the AIADMK and the BJP.

But the reality in various local bodies, is giving rise to doubts that there may be a secret understanding between them. This doubt was there for Tirunelveli mayor elections on September 8, the last date for the withdrawal of nominations. On that day, the BJP candidate suddenly withdrew her nomination and paved way for the AIADMK candidate to get elected unopposed. At various places, the BJP acted in this manner.

Earlier, across the state the ruling AIADMK unleashed a widespread fraud and misused the power to get their nominees elected ‘unopposed’ by preventing the filing of other parties’ nominations or rejecting their nominations.

In this background, G Ramakrishnan, CPI(M) state secretary, met state election commissioner and urged him to restart the process for the election of the Pudhukottai municipality chairman, where the AIADMK forcefully prevented the CPI candidate to file his nomination papers and open an inquiry into the rejection of the nominations of the candidates of the CPI (M) and other parties for ward-2 of the Sethupattu union panchayat in Tiruvannamalai district.

Responding to the complaint by the CPI (M), the state election commission cancelled the by-election to ward-2 in the Sethupattu union panchayat in Tiruvannamalai district and also directed to suspend the assistant electoral officer immediately.

The irregularities and fraud of the ruling party in Pudhukottai and other local bodies continue. Demanding democratic elections, the CPI(M) and the CPI cadres in Chennai and Pudhukottai and at various centres organised protests.