The simmering public resentment against the crisis in the State's farm sector and the shooting prices of essential commodities owing to the United Democratic Front (UDF) government's alleged ineptitude in containing the same through effective market intervention as done by the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government will be reflected in the Piravom Assembly byelections, Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary C.K. Chandrappan has said.
Talking to The Hindu at Kozhencherry on Sunday, Mr. Chandrappan said the bypoll would be a litmus test for the UDF and its government led by Oommen Chandy. He said the late T.M. Jacob had won the primarily agrarian constituency by a slender margin of 157 votes. The growing crisis in the farm sector, coupled with suicides by debt-ridden farmers in different parts of the State, would affect the UDF's prospects in the bypoll, he said.
As far as the LDF was concerned, the bypoll was a purely political contest to expose the alleged machinations and anti-people and anti-development policies of the UDF government, he said.
Food inflation in the State was on the rise. Congress president Sonia Gandhi had promised to implement a legally binding food security scheme in 100 days if the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance came to power. However, the scheme was still in the discussion stage, making a mockery of the poll promise, he alleged.
Mr. Chandrappan said it required Rs.4.5 lakh crore to implement the proposed food security scheme for five years. Ironically, the Union government had given tax concession to the tune of Rs.5.2 lakh crore to corporate giants while sidelining the food security scheme, he alleged.
