A LARGE and enthusiastic rally that was held at Kalwan in Nashik district to celebrate the victory of CPI(M) state secretariat member and former AIKS state president J P Gavit in the state assembly elections for the seventh time, resolved to intensify the struggle against the anti-people policies and the communal acts of the BJP regime at the centre and in the state. The rally was addressed by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury, state secretary and Central Committee member Dr Ashok Dhawale and J P Gavit, MLA, among others. J P Gavit this time avenged his defeat in the 2009 state assembly election. Securing 67,795 votes, he defeated NCP stalwart, former state minister and eight-time MLA A T Pawar, who could manage 63,009 votes. A T Pawar was defeated in spite of the massive use of money power which has always been his hallmark. The BJP was a distant third with 25,457 votes, the Shiv Sena was fourth with 9,024 votes and the Congress was fifth with only 5,699 votes. J P Gavit had won from the pre-delimitation Surgana (ST) assembly seat six times earlier from 1978 onwards. In the delimitation process this was changed to Kalwan (ST) in 2009. Being one of the senior most members of the state assembly, as per tradition J P Gavit was appointed pro-tem speaker of the state assembly for three days, when he administered the oath of office to 288 newly elected MLAs. In the course of these three days, some BJP MLAs tried to bring a resolution demanding the break-up of Maharashtra and the formation of a separate state of Vidarbha. Gavit used the prerogative of his office as the pro-tem speaker to dismiss the resolution and to reiterate the stand for a united Maharashtra. This firm action was widely publicised and was appreciated by large sections of people. The victory rally with hundreds of red flags and spirited slogans coursed through Kalwan town and culminated in a public meeting. Hundreds of Adivasi men and women in traditional dress and dancing to the tune of tribal musical instruments led the victory march. The public meeting was chaired by Shetkari Sanghatana leader and former vice chairman of the local sugar factory, Shantaram Jadhav. After the welcome to the leaders, Sitaram Yechury felicitated the local activists who had worked without respite for this great victory. In his speech Sitaram Yechury warmly thanked the people and congratulated J P Gavit and all the activists for this victory. He expressed confidence that a seasoned leader of the people like Gavit would raise and try to solve the burning issues of the people in the state assembly. But he also stressed that Gavit would continue to be in the forefront of people’s struggles outside the assembly on the streets; this was the true guarantee of success. Yechury said that under Narendra Modi and the BJP, a communal regime has come to power in the country with the unstinted help and support of the corporates. This regime has faithfully started paying back the corporates while attacking the people. Acts like MGNREGA and FRA that are in the interests of the common people are being diluted; subsidies to the people are being slashed; price rise and unemployment are once again the order of the day. People are wondering – what is the difference between the previous Congress regime and the current BJP regime? They see no difference in their pro-rich and anti-poor policies. On top of this are the communal riots, religious strife and obscurantist ideas that are being propagated by the RSS-VHP-BJP on the one hand, and by the MIM and other fundamentalist forces on the other. The new state government led by the BJP will certainly follow the corporate and communal line of the BJP regime at the centre. The need of the hour, said Yechury, is to begin a long-term and consistent struggle against the BJP regimes in the centre and in the state, in the best interests of our country and our working people. The public meeting was addressed by Dr Ashok Dhawale and J P Gavit, who also thanked the people for their support, and congratulated the thousands of Party and non-Party activists who had worked day and night for this victory. They dealt with the new political challenges that had emerged in the state and the district with the results of the state assembly elections. They called for increasing the intensity of local struggles of the people on major issues and also for strengthening the mass organisations and the Party in the days to come. Prominent among those who attended this rally were CPI(M) state committee members Kisan Gujar and Hemant Waghere, district secretariat member Sunil Malusare, district committee members Savliram Pawar, Uttam Kadu, Ramji Gavit, Laxman Gaikwad, Dhanji Choudhari, Vasant Bagul, Ananda Chavan, Vijay Patil, as also Indrajeet Gavit, Bhika Rathod, Prashant Devre, Hemant Patil and many others.