The national council meeting of the Communist Party of India (CPI) will be held in Vijayawada from January 8 to 10 in which several national-level leaders will take part to prepare a political draft, according to CPI State secretary K. Ramakrishna here on Monday.
Speaking to mediapersons, he said the meeting, being held in the city after many years, held significance as a road map would be prepared for the party’s functioning in the future after assessing the political developments since 2015, when the last national meeting was held at Puducherry.
“In the last three years many things happened after the Narendra Modi-led BJP formed the government at the Centre. Issues like the GST, demonetisation and the rise of Hindu fundamentalism have severely vitiated the political atmosphere in the country. The Vijayawada meeting will witness political reviews and organisational reviews,” he said.
Mr. Ramakrishna said the national conclave would be held at Kollam in Kerala on April 24 and 25 in which the political agenda conceived after the Vijayawada meeting would be approved.
Black day
He said all the six Left parties would observe December 6, the day on which Babri Masjid was brought down, as a black day as the incident severely affected the secular image of the country.
“It is unfortunate that the perpetrators have not been punished even after 25 years. The incident paved the way for the rise of the Hindu fundamentalism. Even voices of Kamal Haasan and Prakash Raj were silenced,” he said.
The senior Left leader said even journalists were not spared for their dissent and cited the example of the killing of Gowri Lankesh in Bangalore.
“Screening of films which reflect the creative facets of a person was halted in the name of cultural distortion,” he remarked.
It was sad even Haryana Chief Minister offered crores of rupees for the scalps of those who acted in the controversial film Padmavathi , he said.
‘Protest successful’
Despite the heavy police deployment, the ‘Chalo Assembly’ agitation was a success, he said, adding, “Several leaders were kept under house arrests and the CM advised us to go to New Delhi to stage a dharna and not to Amaravati.”
The TDP was part of the BJP-led NDA government and all the Opposition wanted was the implementation of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act in letter and spirit, he said.
