Maoist death squads executed dozens around Lalgarh

JHARGRAM: Little pieces of glass still lie embedded in dry earth next to the cot where Abhijit Mahato fell.

On the morning he was executed as an enemy of the people, Mahato had been drinking a cup of tea at the end of an eight-hour night shift guarding trucks parked along the Kharagpur-Ranchi highway — the job that paid for the college classes he would have made his way to an hour later.

But then, six men arrived on motorcycles at the truck-stop, carrying automatic rifles. They announced to bystanders that Abhijit Mahato and his friends, Anil Mahato and Niladhar Mahato, were members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The punishment for this crime, the men announced, was death.

The June 17 murder of Abhijit Mahato and his friends didn’t make it to the national press — or draw the attention of the growing numbers of human rights activists, who have arrived in West Medinipur district to investigate the ongoing confrontation between the West Bengal government and Communist Party of India (Maoist) operatives in Lalgarh. But the killings — and dozens like it — are key to understanding the still-unfolding crisis.

District police records show that 111 West Medinipur residents have been killed by Maoist death squads since 2002. Most of the killings were concentrated in the twin blocks of Binpur and adjoining Salboni — the heartland of the Lalgarh violence.

Seventy four of the dead were targeted because they were cadre or supporters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Twenty-three of the victims were police personnel; five were adivasis community elders; one belonged to the Congress; another was a former Maoist who had left the movement in disgust. Seventeen CPI(M) workers have been executed by Maoists since November alone.

It is instructive to compare the murders in West Medinipur with those in India’s most violent State — Jammu and Kashmir. In the years from 2003, Jammu and Kashmir Police records show, 71 political activists from all political parties have been killed by jihadists. More lives have been lost in attacks by Maoist death squads by one single party in one single district of West Bengal.

The data also shows the contest has been uneven: not one Maoist operative has been shot dead in West Medinipur until police moved into Lalgarh last week, either by the state or their political opponents.

Most of those killed by the Maoist death squads come from the ranks of the rural poor; many of them from the same adivasi communities whose name the Maoists have invoked to legitimise terrorism in Lalgarh.

The only son of his widowed mother, and one of five children, Abhijit Mahato was the first member of his extended family to succeed in gaining admission to a college degree. In photographs his mother, Savita Mahato, recently had taken at a local studio, to be shown to the families of prospective brides, Mahato can be seen posing against a movie set-like backdrop.

“I cannot understand”, Savita Mahato says, “what kinds of people would kill a boy who did them not the slightest harm”.

Many others have died in similar circumstances. Karamchand Singh, a noted chhau-dance performer, was executed in front of his primary school students at Binpur last year. His crime was to have campaigned for the CPI(M) despite Maoist warnings to dissociate himself from the party. Pelaram Tudu, a locally renowned football player who supported the CPI(M), was shot dead in another death-squad attack. So, too, was Kartik Hansda, a folk artist.

Honiran Murmu, a doctor working in the Laboni area, was killed along with staff nurse Bharati Majhi and driver Bapsi in October, after an improvised explosive device went off under their car. No explanation was offered by Maoists for the attack, why the vehicle was targeted, but Laboni residents say the attack was intended to punish Mr. Misir for renting out vehicles to the police.

In May, Maoists executed Haripada Mahato as he was bathing in a pond outside his home in the village of Bhumi Dhansola. A former activist with the Maoist-affiliated Kisan Mazdoor Samiti, Haripada Mahato had left the movement in disgust a decade ago. He had since then worked as a night watchman and polio-immunisation campaign volunteer at the Medinipur Medical College.

“The Maoists said he was an informer for the police”, says Haripada Mahato’s wife, Padmavati Mahato, “and we swore he wasn’t. But who can win an argument with a gun?”

Courtesy : The Hindu

Maoist Violence Seeks To Destabilise Elected State Govt

AS we go to press, the anti-Communist incendiary violence unleashed by the Maoists continues unabated in Lalgarh, West Midnapore district of West Bengal. During the last three days, 15 CPI(M) leaders have been murdered by the Maoists. Many of the CPI(M) offices were burnt and ransacked. In all these violent activities, the Maoists have been using the helpless tribals, having terrorised them, as their front.

By now it has been established that the so-called `rainbow' coalition of all anti-Communist forces led by the Trinamool Congress had sheltered all sorts of elements and legitimised Maoist activities in West Bengal. The earlier violence unleashed by this anti-Communist alliance in Singur and Nandigram helped the Maoists to entrench themselves. However, unlike in Nandigram, where the Maoists were operating behind the Trinamool banner, now in Lalgarh, it is the Trinamool Congress that is openly aiding and abetting the Maoists to unleash such violence.

The Maoists are operating under the banner of the Police Atyachar Birodhi Janagana Committee (PABJC). This is led by one Chhatradhar Mahato who until recently was in Trinamool Congress. He is the brother of Sashobhar Mahato, the prime accused in last November's plot to assassinate chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya who was then travelling with the then union minister, Ram Vilas Paswan. The landmine blasts designed to achieve this objective exploded in nearby Salboni, 40 kilometers away from Lalgarh.

All through Tuesday, June 16, when the Maoists unleashed such violence that culminated in the burning of the CPI(M) office, the local Trinamool Congress leaders accompanied the mob. Media reports the leader saying, “It is the Communists vs all others now”. Though the district Congress president was not physically present, he had to send his relatives saying “that was the diktat from the organisers”.

Media reports that the Maoists have prevented the family members from even taking the deadbodies for a decent funeral. There are also reports that the entire area has been rigged with landmines to prevent the security forces and the police from reaching them. Clearly, like they did in Nandigram for nearly a year, they wish to keep the Lalgarh region out of the ambit of any civic administration. Thus, they seek to create a “liberated zone” to further their activities by terrorising the local population into submission. The modus operandi is similar to what the Trinamool Congress has done last week in Khejuri. The aim is to establish their political base by eliminating the CPI(M) cadre physically and terrorise the rest of the population. Such a supremely anti-democratic and fascistic modus operandi of the Trinamool Congress led combine has facilitated the penetration of the Maoists in the area.

The prime minister is on record, saying: “Maoist violence is the single biggest danger for internal security in our country”. The Maoists themselves have publicly stated in mainstream media at the time of the Nandigram disturbances, “The Maoists stepped into Nandigram in January 2007 and quickly put together a party unit. They rustled up a 350 strong people's militia and fought.” Further, “The ammunition was mostly supplied by local Trinamool leaders.”

For the past few years, the Maoists had been accumulating arms through various raids on ordinance factories and police outposts. The Defence Quarterly, a respected defence journal, says in early 2007: “As recent as in October 2006, the Indian army recovered a massive cache of state manufactured arms and ammunition in the eastern state of Kolkata. Three people including a soldier were arrested in (this) connection”. In an October 3, 2006 BBC report, an army spokesman said: “The cache of arms was meant for Maoist rebels and other terrorist groups active in and around eastern West Bengal state”.

At the time of the Nandigram disturbances, a Maoist leader had mocked at the Trinamool Congress saying: “They think they are the leaders, they are not; but we are the ones who are actually controlling”. On this occasion in Lalgarh, it is openly acknowledged that the violence is unleashed by the Maoists and the Trinamool Congress and the others are following their `leader'. Clearly, the objective here is to destabilise the elected state government through Maoist violence.

It is a gross abuse of Indian parliamentary democracy that those who have taken oath under the constitution to serve as ministers in the central government are, themselves, leading and participating in the most unconstitutional and illegal orgy of violence resulting in large-scale loss of human life and destruction of property. The Congress party heading the central government far from being uncomfortable is an accomplice in this gross violation of the Indian constitution.

Such a state of anarchy and designed unleashing of violence cannot be tolerated in any civil society. The West Bengal state government has asked for central assistance in dealing with this situation. The central and state governments must urgently act in unison, in the interests of the country and its constitutional scheme of things, to immediately restore normalcy in both East and West Midnapore districts of West Bengal and reestablish the rule of law and civic administration.

(Editorial : People's Democracy)

CPI(M) Central Committee on the Lok Sabha Election Results

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in Delhi on June 20 & 21, 2009. It has issued the following statement:

Election Review

The Central Committee conducted a comprehensive review of the results of the Lok Sabha election. It also made an in-depth study of the Party's performance.

Among the factors responsible for the success of the Congress is that it could utilise the people's concern for a stable secular government at the Centre. The rejection by the people of the BJP's divisive brand of communal politics and Hindutva benefited the Congress.

The support that the Left parties had extended to the UPA for four years also contributed to providing legitimacy and credibility to the Congress-led government. The UPA government had pursued neo-liberal policies which have heightened inequalities and failed to tackle the agrarian crisis, price rise and unemployment. Despite this, some of the measures taken such as the NREGA, farmers loan waiver scheme, the Forest Tribal Rights Act and the increased minimum support price for foodgrains and other crops helped to mitigate some of the effects of these policies and had a positive impact. Some of these steps were adopted due to the Left's pressure.

The spate of terrorist violence culminating in the Mumbai terrorist attack in November 2008 heightened the people's concern for unity and the popular mood was against the BJP's communal platform which sought to divide the people.

The Congress also benefited from the consolidated support it received from the big business of the country who registered enormous gains during the five year rule of the UPA.

Defeat of BJP

The BJP's defeat is significant because it has failed for the second successive time to win the elections. The main reason for this failure is because the people have rejected its communal platform which was highlighted by the virulent hate speeches of Varun Gandhi and similar
propaganda by less prominent figures. The image of a hardcore Hindutva party was heightened by the projection of Narendra Modi as the future leader of the party. The record of the BJP as the opposition party which mainly concentrated on disrupting parliament and not taking up the main issues affecting the people such as the agrarian crisis, price rise and unemployment led to loss of support for the party.

The Central Committee noted that the emergence of the non-Congress, non-BJP combination which included the Left parties contributed to the defeat of the BJP which was unable to get any worthwhile allies in states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Orissa.

Withdrawal of Support to UPA Government

The Central Committee was of the firm opinion that the withdrawal of the support to the UPA government on the nuclear deal in July 2008 was correct. This was consistent with the Left's stand against forging of a strategic alliance with the United States.

Non-Congress, Non-BJP Alternative

The Central Committee of the CPI(M) had called for the formation of a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative as against the Congress-led alliance and the BJP-led alliance. This was a correct tactic. These efforts resulted in the electoral understanding forged by some regional and Left
parties in Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Orissa and Karnataka. However, such an electoral understanding could not be extended beyond these four states and the three Left-led states of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. It failed to be a viable and credible alternative at the national level.

Critically reviewing these efforts, the Central Committee felt that it should not have extended the call for building such an alternative to the formation of an alternative government. In the absence of a countrywide alliance and no common policy platform being presented, the call for an alternative government was unrealistic.

The Central Committee reiterated that it will continue to strive to build the third alternative. Till then, whenever required the Party will forge electoral understanding and alliances with like-minded non-Congress secular parties.

CPI(M) Performance

The Party has suffered serious reverses in the Lok Sabha elections. It has won only 16 seats. Nine seats in West Bengal, four in Kerala, two in Tripura and one in Tamilnadu. The Party has got 5.33 per cent of the vote, which is only marginally less compared to the 5.66 per cent it
polled in 2004. While expressing concern about the erosion in the Party's support base in West Bengal and Kerala, the Central Committee also noted that the Left Front in West Bengal polled around 1.85 crore votes and in Kerala the LDF has polled 67.17 lakh vote. Though there is
some erosion, the main base of the Party is intact by and large in these two states.

Review of Party's Performance

The Central Committee conducted an in-depth review of the performance of the Party based on the review reports received from the states. The Party has registered a good victory in Tripura winning both the seats with the Left Front polling 61.69 per cent of the votes.

Apart from the all India factors, the specific situation in the states of West Bengal and Kerala where serious losses took place were also reviewed.

In West Bengal, the review noted the political, governmental and organisational reasons for the setbacks suffered by the CPI(M) and the Left Front. The review noted that there is some erosion of support among the rural and urban poor and sections of the middle classes. There are
shortcomings in the functioning of government, panchayats and municipalities based on a proper class outlook. This is due to the failure of the government to implement properly various measures directly concerning the lives of the people. The apprehension about land
acquisition has contributed to the alienation amongst some sections of the peasantry.

At the organisational level certain wrong trends and practices have adversely affected relations with the people. The Central Committee endorsed the steps proposed by the state committee to take corrective measures at the organisational and governmental level.

In Kerala, the factors responsible for the poor performance were also analysed. The disunity in the LDF and the Party leadership had an adverse impact on the people; the churches played an active role in mobilising Christian votes against the LDF; the association with the PDP
caused confusion among the people. The UDF and media campaign on the SNC Lavalin case also had its impact. Certain wrong trends within the Party organisation have also had a negative impact.

The Polit Bureau decided to have a meeting of the Polit Bureau on July 4 and 5, 2009 to discuss specifically the organisational matters in Kerala.

The Central Committee reviewed the overall performance of the Party in the rest of the country. It noted the organisational weaknesses in expanding the independent work of the Party, conducting sustained struggles on local issues and the building of the mass organisations. It
directed the state units to implement the tasks arising out of the reviews conducted in the states regarding these matters.

The Central Committee expressed confidence that the entire Party would draw lessons from this electoral setback. It will identify the shortcomings in carrying out the political line of the Party and take steps to rectify the weaknesses in the organisation. The Central Committee affirmed that immediate steps would be taken in states like West Bengal and Kerala to reforge the links with those sections of the people who have been alienated from the Party for various reasons. The
state governments will also take necessary steps to implement measures which are expected of it by the people.

Relations with Parties

The Party will work to strengthen Left unity and maintain relations and cooperation with secular opposition parties on people's issues, for pro-people economic policies and in defence of secularism and an independent foreign policy.

On The UPA Government

The Central Committee reiterated the stand already outlined by the Left parties that they will play the role of a Left opposition in parliament. The Central Government should take immediate steps to provide relief to the millions who have lost jobs due to the adverse impact of the global
economic crisis. Measures should be taken to see that because of the crisis common people are not burdened further. Though the rate of inflation is shown to be negative, the prices of essential commodities continue to be high. The government must take steps to curb price rise. The Government has to take steps to devolve adequate resources and funds to the state governments who have to primarily bear the responsibility for tackling the effects of the economic slow down and pursue developmental and welfare measures.

The CPI(M) will vigorously oppose all such measures in parliament and outside which seek to push through legislations for increasing foreign capital in the banking and insurance sector and financial sector liberalisation. The Party will continue to oppose disinvestment of the profit making public sector units, FDI in retail and higher education and such sectors which are not beneficial for the country. It will press for the adoption of the women's reservation Bill.

Protest Attacks in West Bengal

The Central Committee has issued an appeal to all its Party units and other Left and democratic forces to protest against the widespread attacks on Party workers, offices and supporters in West Bengal by the Trinamul-Congress combine and the Maoists. The Party will conduct a
campaign all over the country in solidarity with West Bengal and in defence of democracy.

Ecuador will join the ALBA ON 24 JUNE

Rafeal Correa with Raul Castro

Ecuador formally join as a full member of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) in the extraordinary summit of the organization of the next 24 . The announcement was made by the Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa, Gualaquiza from Guangzhou in the southern province of Morona Santiago

Correa, who will ratify this decision at its liaison Citizen on Saturday, noted that the addition will benefit the country, block them in the common political positions in international fora. "We will have great benefits such as having a unique position to multilateral agencies that have hurt a lot to Latin America, including the World Bank and the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The president stressed that his organization, composed of Bolivia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominica, Cuba, St. Vincent and Grenadines, and Venezuela, have pursued a common investment fund and Ecuador will also join the Regional Clearing System (Sucre).

ALBA in the spirit is a little different, because "we must overcome this integrationist vision limited only to trade to support each other, have mutual power projects to improve trade development, not trade based on neo-liberal competition," he said. stressed that "nothing in this accession is detrimental," and the existence of this group and encourages further regional integration in Latin America. Their statements were recorded shortly after the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, announced days after the entry of Ecuador to the ALBA.

Founded in 2004 by Chavez and then Cuban President Fidel Castro, this organization was established as an alternative to integration as opposed to the proposal of the Free Trade Agreement (FTAA), which drove United States in Latin America.

Mangalore - DYFI activists expose expired energy food sachets

The DYFI workers have exposed the stock of expired energy food sachets meant for free supply among poor children at an Anganwadi belonging to Women and Child Welfare Department near Baikampadi here on Saturday.

The energy food sachets which were expired on March 1, 2009 was spotted by the DYFI members at Anganagundi Anganwadi near Baikampadi on the outskirts of the city.

Producing the expired energy food sachets, DYFI district President Muneer Katipalla urged the Additional Deputy Commissioner Prabhakar Sharma to conduct an inquiry into the issue. Katipalla briefed Sharma that there were nearly 10 bags of such expired energy food packets in the Anganwadi.

He also pointed out that another batch of energy food sachets with June 2, 2009 expiry date was also spotted at the Anganwadi. However, all the expired and near expiry date stock has been shifted from the Anganwadi by an official on Monday morning, he added.

Citing the lapse of officials concerned, kattipalla said that the consumption of expired energy food may create health hazards in children.

Further, he pointed out that the district administration does not conduct monthly meetings on food security which is mandatory.

Meanwhile, the pathetic condition of a godown of Women and Child Welfare Department at Ashok Nagar in the city was also brought to light by a surprise visit by the DYFI members along with journalists.

The energy food, which contains flour of roasted wheat, maize, blackgram dhal, toasted edible groundnut, soya, powder jaggery, vitamins and minerals, were being supplied freely under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) of the government through Child Development Project Offices (CDPO). Sachets were distributed to children between 3-6 years, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers through Anganwadis.

Courtesy: Mangalorean.com

Com.P Sundarayya - Com.E K Nayanar Memory Day

May 19

Com. P Sundarayya - Com. E K Nayanar
Memorial Day

Together - LET US CONQUER

"We are the Majority, Victory will be with us "

IN THE HONOR of 64th Year OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT VICTORY

Mass procession and meeting in the honor 64- year of the anniversary of great victory took place on May 9 in Moscow. They passed under the slogan: “Together - let us conquer! ”, “victory will be after us!”.

Thousand and thousands of people. Veterans, young people, the representatives of the working associations. There was no such populous demonstration in Moscow has long ago. On May 9 in the capital for the holiday demonstrations of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation always leave many people, and this understandably - Day of Victory is holy holiday for the majority of our citizens. But now it became not only in the daytime recollection about the great accomplishments of our people, but also in the daytime protest, first of all, against the destructive reform of armed forces, making our country defenseless before the external threat.

Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Russian Federation Gennedy Zyuganov led the rally and spoke on the occassion. "Victory - this celebration of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism, Russian spirit and friendship of peoples!" he said. Victory is the apex of strategic genius and will of Stalin. One hundred thirty nationalities, which populated the USSR, were combined in the united impulse in the fight with Fascist plague. Speaking about the heaviest social and economic position, in which proved to be today the country, Zyuganov emphasized that the Communists prepared their program of overcoming the crisis, which makes it possible to raise the economy, to ensure normal wages, pensions, allowances, to again make Russia the Great Power. “In order to personify this program into the life, we must gather the best forces; therefore we revive komsomol and young pioneers.

Red Flag Over Reichstag, Berlin

May 9 victory day commemerates the victory of Red army over the German Nazis in 1945 which eventually led to the downfall of Hitlers Fascism. Thereby the Red guards saved the world from fascist catastrophe.

Russians Praise Legacy of Soviet Army

The vast majority of people in Russia think the Soviet Army was instrumental in the development of Eastern Europe, according to a poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center. 77 per cent of respondents say the Soviet Army freed Eastern European countries from fascism and gave them a chance to flourish.

Conversely, 11 per cent of respondents think the Soviet Army freed these countries only to instate dictatorships and deprive them of their independence.

The Soviet Army got its name in 1946, when it was officially constituted as the legitimate army of the Soviet Union. This army, formerly known as the Red Army, helped liberate Eastern European countries from German Nazi rule.

In the 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev played a key role in reducing the size of the Soviet Army, mainly due to its immense costs. He also reined in the military forces as he avoided confrontations with civilians in many Soviet republics that were seeking independence. Following the official end of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet Army dissolved.

In late February, Communist Party (KPRF) leader Gennady Zyuganov led a rally criticizing the government of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev for its handling of an economic crisis. Zyuganov recalled the glories of the communist era, declaring, "We are holding a rally today in support of the best traditions laid down by the Russian and Soviet armies. In the unity of these traditions lies the future of our national security."

Polling Data

The Soviet Army freed Eastern European countries from fascism, and gave them the opportunity to develop	77%
The Soviet Army freed Eastern European countries from fascism, but chose to establish dictatorial regimes which deprived these countries of their independence	11%
Hard to answer	11%

Peoples' Candidate is Back

"The people of Madurai will win (in the election)," said Communist Party of India (Marxist) Madurai Lok Sabha constituency candidate, P. Mohan.

Arriving home to a rousing reception at various points here on Friday after being hospitalised in Chennai, he said that the people of Madurai would prove that their Lok Sabha constituency too would go for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led alliance.

Sixty-year-old Mohan underwent a surgery in Chennai after he developed stomach ache on April 28.

He was hospitalised there for 11 days.

With tears rolling down his cheeks, the two-time MP expressed gratitude for the affection shown to him by the people of Madurai.

"I apologise for being unable to participate in the protests against political rowdyism and distribution of money. I am sure, the people of Madurai will win," he said in a choked voice.

Scores of party men and cadres of alliance parties gathered at Jeeva Nagar to welcome him. Comrade Mohan would resume his election campaign on Sunday, R. Annadurai, district secretary of the party, said.

CPI (M) State secretary, N. Varadarajan, district secretaries, R. Annadurai and V. Sundaram (both CPI-M), K. Raju, M. Boominathan were among those who received him at the airport.

Congress, BJP silent on economic crisis: Yechury

MADURAI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has charged that the global economic crisis that led to loss of lakhs of jobs in the country was not a matter of concern for both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Addressing an election meeting here on Sunday, the CPI (M) polit bureau member, Sitaram Yechury, said the Congress leader Sonia Gandhi did not utter a single word on the issue while addressing an election meeting in Chennai on Sunday. Similarly, the BJP leaders also failed to make a mention of it at their rally at Ludhiana.

It was because they do not have an alternative policy, he said adding, “Their concern is to try to find out new avenues to make money through corruption,” he said.

Mr. Yechury was seeking votes for his party candidate for Madurai Lok Sabha seat, P. Mohan.

He said that his party was pressing for making public investment in a big way in infrastructure development. “Building of infrastructure would generate crores of jobs so that the people could spend their salaries, giving a stimulus to the economy,” he said. Stating that the country had lost one crore jobs in the last three months, he warned that if effective measures were not taken another five crore jobs would be lost in the next three months.

Mr. Yechury said that the economic policies of the Congress and the BJP Governments in the Centre have led to creation of “two Indias” – one shining and the other suffering. Lakhs of farmers had committed suicide and hundreds of children were dying due to diseases that could be prevented, he said.

Stating that the Prime Minister of the country had been elected only after the Lok Sabha elections in 1996, 1998 and 2004, he said that would be the case even in 2009. It was with due respect to the people of the country. The sovereignty of the country rested with the people according to the Constitution, he said. Mr. Yechury said that this time, the coalition Government to be formed by the Third Front would not be instable, as it would not need the outside support from both the Congress and the BJP.

Mr. Yechury said that he was not seeking votes for the alternative front for alternative economic policies alone, but for a shift in direction in the policies concerning the security of the nation from terrorism, social justice and foreign policy.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)

After Money its the turn of Sarees to woo Madurai Voters

Election Observers seizing Sarees meant for distribution by DMK

MADURAI: Special Election Observer for Madurai Lok Sabha constituency Madangopal seized six bundles of saris from two houses in Jaihindpuram, reportedly meant for free distribution to voters, in Madurai on Wednesday.

Mr. Madangopal, along with another Observer, M. Matthew Jolly, handed over the seized materials to the Jaihindpuram police.

A former Corporation councillor of Communist Party of India (Marxist), Murugan, said his partymen alerted the police and the Observers on receiving information about distribution of saris at Meenambigaipuram.

“The police chased away scores of women who were waiting for their turn to get the saris from the ruling partymen,” he said.

Later, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam men locked the factory in which the saris were kept.

The Observer who arrived at the scene found the bundles and some of the saris kept in plastic covers ready for distribution.

The Observers, accompanied by Assistant Collector (Training) K. Veeraraghava Rao, went to Netaji Nagar and seized more bundles from a house belonging to another ruling party worker.

The DMK men had told the Observers that the saris were stocked for distribution after the elections in connection with the birthday celebration of DMK south zone organising secretary and the Madurai Lok Sabha constituency candidate M.K. Azhagiri.

CPI (M) Politburo member Brinda Karat told reporters here on Wednesday that the Madurai constituency had become an example of complete subversion of electoral and democratic process. Muscle power, money power and misuse of State machinery were evident in the constituency, she said.

Ms. Brinda urged the Election Commission to deploy paramilitary forces in those booths identified as sensitive in the constituency.

(Source :Hindu)