CPI(M) Khammam District Committee plans ‘chalo Hyderabad’

The CPI (M) Khammam district committee will organise a ‘chalo Hyderabad’ programme on March 16 to mount pressure on the State government allocate Rs 10,000 crore in the ensuing State budget for speedy completion of all the pending irrigation projects in the district. The party had earlier organised a 14-day long “Saagu Neeti Sadhana Maha Padayatra” involving 1000 party cadres in the district in October last year to press the demand.

Talking to mediapersons on Tuesday, CPI (M) district committee secretary P Sudarshan Rao, said the ‘Chalo Hyderabad’ programme had been planned to mount pressure on the government to earmark Rs 10,000 crore in the State budget for completing the irrigation projects including the Rajiv Sagar (Dummugudem) and Indira Sagar (Rudramkota) lift irrigation schemes. The present regime headed by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy had finalised the tenders for Polavarm project in the dead of the night in a hasty manner, he alleged lamenting that the government was turning a blind eye towards execution of several long-pending and need-based irrigation projects such as Rajiv Sagar. The unabated suicides by the farmers were a clear pointer to the gravity of the irrigation woes of the peasants, he said stressing the need for expeditious completion of the irrigation projects in the district to find a lasting solution to the multitude of problems confronted by the farmers.

The party would stage a demonstration at the dharna chowk in the State capital on Saturday in pursuit of the demand. CPI (M) State secretary B V Raghavulu, central committee member T Veerabhadram, party floor leader in the Assembly J Ranga Reddy and a host of other senior party leaders besides the participants of the last year’s “Maha Padayatra” would take part in the dharna.

(Source : The Hindu)

Eastern Jatha in Lucknow

Eastern Jatha reached Lucknow today crossing more than 275 kilometers through central Uttar Pradesh. The journey started from Varanasi, where a big public meeting was held last night. The meeting took place in Kacchibagh area, commonly known as Bunkers’ area. It is here the artistry of famed Benarasi saris have flourished. Both handloom and powerloom weaving are being done here in almost every other house. Weavers, numbering almost 50,000 in Varanasi, are facing multi-dimensional crisis for last few years. The problem is more acute for the handloom weavers, who, by the way earned their skills through generations. Benarasi saris had to be made with intricacy and needs long hours to complete one. Handloom weavers are facing challenges from powerlooms, while in the later, workers or the actual weavers are not paid their fair share.

Weavers have formed their organization and are fighting a difficult battle for survival of the trade and their own demands. CPI(M) has strong influence among Bunkers which was reflected in the meeting on Monday evening which went on for hours. Mostly from the minorities, the weavers gathered and listened to CPI(M) leaders explaining how centre’s policies were ruining the livelihood of the people.

On Tuesday, jatha on its way was warmly received in three places in Jaunpur district. At the entrance of the district, a street corner meeting was addressed by Prakash Karat. In Jaunpur town, an unscheduled meeting had to be conducted as people were eagerly waiting with enthusiasm.

The public meeting in Sultanpur was not only quite a large one, but reverberated with enthusiasm. Peasants and agricultural workers from nearby villages attended the meeting. Most notably, students and youth participated in good numbers. Students' front is active in Sultanpur town and in the district. Many teenagers, with both red flag and flag of the student front came to listen to the leaders. They continued slogan shouting as long as the rally continued. Dalits and minorities were present in good numbers.

By evening the Jatha reached Lucknow. A public meeting was held in the field adjacent to CPI(M) state office on Vidhansabha Marg. As soon as the Jatha reached the border of Lucknow city, poor women virtually blocked the bus and garlanded leaders. In the public meeting, student and youth front activists raised slogans and sang songs with gusto.

South & West Jatha Merge in Bhopal

The Southern Sangharsh Sandesh Jatha which began its journey on February 24 from Kanyakumari and traversed through Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra reached Bhopal on Tuesday evening. Simultaneously, the Western Sangharsh Sandesh Jatha that began its journey from Mumbai on March 08 reached Bhopal after covering Maharashtra. Both these jathas merged at a public meeting organised by the CPI(M) Madhya Pradesh state committee at Neelam Park in Bhopal. Now, one jatha will continue its journey to Delhi from tomorrow. 

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and leader of Southern jatha S Ramachandran Pillai, addressing the gathering said there is no magic or mantra to achieve the most important and genuine demands of the people placed in this jatha programme. The only option is to conduct militant struggles and for this the people must unite overcoming all attempts to divide them on religious, regional and caste lines. He said these struggles must be waged in a consistent and continuous manner to achieve the demands relating to food, housing, wages, social justice etc. 

CPI(M) central secretariat member and Western jatha member Nilotpal Basu in his speech lambasted the UPA-II government for favouring corporates and neglecting the genuine demands of the common people. He explained the purpose of jatha programme and called upon people to join in large numbers the March 19 rally in Delhi. 

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member M A Baby, CPI(M) central secretariat member V Sreenivasa Rao, both members of Southern Jatha and CPI(M) central committee member Md Salim and CPI(M) Maharashtra state secretariat member Mariam Dhawale, both members of Western Jatha were also present. CPI(M) Madhya Pradesh unit state secretary Badal Saroj spoke in the meeting.

Earlier, the Western Jatha had an impressive meeting in Sihor town, around 40 km away from Bhopal. More than 80 per cent of participants were women, mostly agricultural workers and various scheme workers. They connected to the speeches made by jatha leaders. 

In the morning at a 'Meet the Press' held at Indore Press Club, Nilotpal Basu and Md Salim highlighted the danger of communal forces to the nation. Indore, which has been a hotbed for Hindu fundamentalist forces with most of the conspirators of Hindutva terror group coming from here, the CPI(M) leaders pointed out that internal security can be ensured when all citizens are made to live in harmony and security. Just buying up arms would not help, said Salim in reply to a question. And those who talk a lot about internal security, it is in their areas only where people are made to feel more insecure due to divisive policies.