Belligerent postures by the right wing rabble-rousers rather than preparations by the Left, mark the run-up to the public meeting to be conducted by the CPI(M) Telangana unit on March 19, at the Nizam College grounds.
The much-publicised arrival of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as the chief guest for the meeting has not gone down well with some BJP leaders including the party’s general secretary G.Premender Reddy and legislator Raja Singh, both of whom threatened that they would not allow Mr.Vijayan to address the meeting.
The stage for the showdown was set when two little known ‘right wing’ organisations, Martyrs Memorial Research Institute and Jagrutha Bharat, staged a demonstration last week, protesting against the Kerala government’s alleged atrocities against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh cadre in Kannur.
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BJP president K.Laxman addressed the meeting and lambasted Mr.Vijayan, accusing him of playing ‘murder politics’. The demonstration had considerable attendance, mainly from the ranks of RSS, BJP and other right wing political and cultural organisations.
However, Mr.Laxman made no controversial remarks against Mr.Vijayan’s arrival here to address the meeting, being planned in culmination of the ongoing ‘Mahajana Padayatra’ undertaken by the party’s state secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram along with eight others.
The ‘Padayatra’ which was launched on October 17 amid fanfare, will have completed five months and 4,000 km of travel on foot across the Telangana State by March 19.
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The tour was undertaken, demanding social justice and inclusive development of the newly formed Telangana State.
The meeting on March 19 is expected to garner support from various quarters of Telangana’s intelligentsia and organisations working for people’s rights, besides Left parties.
It is in this backdrop, that Mr.Raja Singh’s bluster against Mr.Vijayan assumes importance. Mr.Singh warned that if police allow the CPI(M) ‘Maha Sammelanam’, as the meeting is called, then they will have to allow the ‘Deshabhaktula Sammelanam’ or ‘Meet of the Patriots’ to be organised by him in close proximity.
Mr.Premender Reddy too, at a press conference, reportedly said he will make sure Mr.Vijayan never steps into the city.
Responding to these threats, the CPI(M)’s politburo member B.V.Raghavulu said it is a habit with the right wing groups to threaten, and kill people.