M.A. Baby, MLA and Polit Bureau member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], has said that monopolies have been helping the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) stay in power at the Centre, though it did not have the majority in Parliament.
Mr. Baby was inaugurating the delegates’ meetings at the State conference of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), which began here on Tuesday.
“The Union government has taken contract work of the monopolies. It is taking anti-people measures on behalf of the monopolies. The denial of jobs to the youth is part of this grand design. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is pursuing the same policies. The steps to privatise employment exchanges have begun in the country,” he said.
Mr. Baby said the monopolies bought MLAs and MPs at retail and wholesale prices. Players like S. Sreesanth, accused of spot-fixing in an Indian Premier League cricket match, were products of neo-liberalism. These forces had shaped not only such players but also the whole political system of the country in tune with the interests of business and the market.
He said the damage caused by the neo-liberal policies were not miniscule. “It is changing democracy into rule of money. Among the sub-products of this rule of money are players like Sreesanth,” he said.
He asked the DYFI to introspect if the organisation had been able to use all its might against the neo-liberal policies. The conference should deliberate its weakness, along with achievements. The organisation should introspect if it was able to expand its base, apart from fighting for the rights of the youth.
The message of the Jnanpith laureate O.N.V. Kurup, who could not arrive to inaugurate the conference for health reasons, was read out.
T.M. Thomas Isaac, MLA and CPI(M) leader; DYFI vice-president M.B. Rajesh, MP; State secretary T.V. Rajesh; and president, M. Swaraj spoke.
