Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has appealed to workers of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) to stay united and strengthen the Congress.
The party will not be able to form a government at the Centre without the support of the working class, he said while inaugurating the national working committee meeting of the trade union affiliated to the Congress here on Saturday. INTUC remained a part and parcel of the Congress, he said, in response to the trade union’s State president R. Chandrasekharan’s grouse about the party turning its back on the union workers, especially when choosing candidates for elections.
Mr. Chennithala, who spoke in a mix of Hindi and English before around 400 delegates from across the country, criticised the Narendra Modi government for shattering the hopes of the working class and the commoner by means of a casual implementation of GST and the ill-advised demonetisation.
“There is price rise even as wages are going down. The casual implementation of GST without proper consultation or homework translated into States not getting enough revenue through taxes.
Tall promises made by Mr. Modi have all fallen flat, and now, the government is on a spree to sell off public sector undertakings. Worse, they are also trying hard to incite communal divide by injecting communal venom into sections of people. Panic is the order of the day with all sections hit by it,” Mr. Chennithala said.
He also alleged that never before had minorities and weaker sections got isolated.
INTUC national president G. Sanjeeva Reddy presided over the meeting in which KPCC president M.M. Hassan, vice-president V.D. Satheesan, MLA, and UDF convenor P.P. Thankachan took part.
The two-day meeting is expected to discuss issues facing workers. It will also devise strategies to rope in other trade unions in their fight against what is termed the “anti-labour” policies of the Centre. The national body will take up with the party its grudge about being sidelined during elections.
