Hindi book on Comrade P Sundarayya released

Leaders across the political spectrum on Wednesday recalled the immense contribution of veteran Marxist leader P. Sundarayya to building the Communist movement in Andhra Pradesh and the country.

Recounting the spartan life led by the Marxist leader, CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said Sundarayya contributed to ushering in democratic practices in the party structure and worked towards the development of linguistics in the State.

Releasing a book in Hindi on the life of Pucchalapalli Sundarayya, Union Minister for Urban Development S. Jaipal Reddy shared his relationship with the late leader and spoke of the immense knowledge that he brought to debates.

On his part, Bharatiya Janata Party leader M. Venkaiah Naidu lamented the changing attitude in politics and the drifting personal relations among politicians from different parties. He said that while parties had different ideologies earlier, its members used to interact on a social plane, a tradition now on the decline.

Lakshmi Prasad, a former Telugu Desam Party MP, who heads the Andhra Pradesh Hindi Academy, said that in order to highlight the contribution of leaders such as Alluri Seetaramaraju, Tanguturi Prakasam, and P.V. Narasimha Rao in national politics, the Academy would publish their translated biographies for the benefit of Hindi-speaking people.

Veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar presided over the function held here at the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan.

Centre should probe mining in Andhra Pradesh: CPI (M)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has demanded that the Centre constitute a high-level committee to inquire into the mining activities in the State and put exploitation work on hold till the panel submits its report.

CPI (M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu charged the Congress with adopting “double standards” on mining activities. While the party was supporting mining in the States where it was in power, it was opposing it in States where it was in the Opposition. Denial of mining permission to Vedanta in Orissa on environmental grounds while allowing bauxite mining in Visakhapatnam in spite of the pollution it was causing was ample proof of the ruling party's approach.

The Government which denied permission to set up the thermal power plant at Sompeta in Srikakulam district as it had no environmental clearances, however, ignored “violation of tribal laws like 1/70 Act” in case of mining in Bayyaram in Khammam district.

“Why is the Centre particular about enforcement of legislations in States where the Congress is not in power while it is setting aside the same in Congress-ruled States” he wondered.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)

Deshabhimani signature song released

Deshabhimani', the official organ of the CPI-M in Malayalam, released its signature song, penned by eminent poet and lyricist O N V Kurup. The song was released by CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan at a function at Thiruvananthapuram. A musical rendering of the values for which the newspaper stood over decades as the voice of the toiling masses, was sung by noted playback singers K S Chitra and Madhu Balakrishnan. The tune was rendered by top-notch film and stage music director M K Arjunan.

DMK wavering in its stand on major issues: CPI(M)

Accusing the DMK of wavering in its position on all major issues such as Nuclear Deal, trade union rights and state autonomy, the CPI(M) on Thursday said the Dravidian party, once a champion of state autonomy, had been reduced to the level of pleading the Centre with petitions.

“The Congress-led UPA government is taking away the rights of the state government and the DMK is pleading with petitions,” CPI(M) state secretary G. Ramakrishnan said, reacting to Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s remarks that the communist parties had no policy other than changing their stand frequently.

“The communists have never compromised their stand on issues such as anti-imperialism, secularism, rights of the state governments and protection of poor in the urban and rural areas,” he added.

Mr Ramakrishnan said the though the DMK had expressed concern over the hike in the price of petroleum products, the fact remained that the DMK was also a party to the cabinet decision to hike the price.

“The price of agriculture inputs has become beyond the reach of farmers. But the DMK extended its support to hike the price of fertilisers,” he said, alleging that the DMK was wavering because it had embraced liberalisation policy.

As regards the Chief Minister’s another remark that the CPI(M) was trying to suppress the achievements of the DMK government, Mr Ramakrishnan quipped, “no one can suppress achievements such as power cut, spiralling of prices of essential commodities, deterioration of law and order and denial of trade union rights in multi-national companies.”

He said though the DMK was claiming that it was the champion of social justice, suspension of IAS officer C. Umashankar and the wall to prevent the entry of Dalits in Uthapuram “tell different story.”

Mr Ramakrishnan said only a few CPI(M) men attended the meeting to admit former CPI(M) MLA C. Govindasamy into the DMK.

“Others belonged to the DMK. What is the need to organise such a big function to admit the DMK men into the DMK,” he said.

Rejecting the Chief Minister’s comments, CPI state secretary D. Pandian said, “time has come for the Chief Minister to retire from politics.”

(Courtesy : The Hindu)