Left, secular forces urged to unite

BJP govt. serving foreign capitalist forces, says Gurudas Dasgupta

CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta addressing a rally at the conclusion of the 22nd State conference of the party in Kottayam on Monday. —Photo: Special Arrangement

Veteran Communist leader Gurudas Dasgupta has stressed the need to give shape to and strengthen a broad unity of the Left, Communist, democratic, and secular forces to struggle against what he termed the communal and economic policies being put into practice by the BJP government to abet foreign capitalist interests in the country.

Addressing an impressive rally put up by the Communist Party of India at the conclusion of the 22nd State conference here on Monday, Mr. Dasgupta said the nation had been pushed into a dangerous situation through the policies of the BJP government, which believed that the panacea for all ills was foreign capital and it would take the country forward. As such, it was opening up railways, banking, insurance, retail, and defence sectors for foreign direct investment.

Mr. Dasgupta said the interests of the poor, common man and farmers were given little importance, as was evident from the proposed land acquisition Act where by the government would be able to take over land without consent and hand it over to the corporates. Social spending had been drastically cut down but at the same time corporate sector was given sops in the budget.

He said agriculture produces did not get remunerative prices and workers were not given proper wages. “The nation is also subjected to a major threat from the rise of communal forces as the secular fabric of the nation is at stake,” he said.

However, there were signs of a change in the mood of the people as was evident from an agitation by farmers in Uttar Pradesh. In fact, peasantry in many parts of the country was getting ready to struggle for their land.

In addition, workers in the industry and service sectors were also preparing themselves for an agitation, Mr. Dasgupta said.

The only way out of the grave threat faced by the country was struggle and in this struggle, the broader Left, secular, and democratic forces would have to join hands, he said.

Kanam Rajendran, CPI State unit secretary, presided. D. Raja, MP, Pannian Ravindran, K.E. Ismail, and others spoke.