People's Democracy

 ANDHRA PRADESH

Successful Long March Concludes in Khammam

M Venugopala Rao

THE historic long march, called Mahaprasthanam in Telugu, started by the secretary of  Khammam district committee and a member of the central committee of the CPI(M), Thammineni Veerabhadram, on August 24 at Vajedu successfully concluded on December 1 with a massive public meeting in Khammam, which was addressed by the Polit Bureau member of the Party, Sitaram Yechury, state committee secretary B V Raghavulu and other leaders.

The long march of farmers conducted by leaders like Kommareddy Satyanarayanamurthy in the past under the guidance of Comrade P Sundarayya  provided inspiration to the Mahaprasthanam.  During the long march, trekking a distance of about 2663 kilometers, Veerabhadram covered more than one thousand villages in the district, interacted with the local people and addressed them for more than 1100 times. In the words of Veerabhadram, the Mahaprasthanam had turned out to be a confluence of separate struggles of different sections and classes of people on various issues.  The success of Mahaprasthanam lies in the fact that it had brought the issue of development of the district into the agenda and created a situation where political parties had no other go except talking about this agenda. The unprecedented response from the people, their spirit of love and affection had contributed for the success of the long march conducted with a view to liberating the district from backwardness and improving the living standards of the people.

The Mahaprasthanam has provided an opportunity to Veerabhadram and the study committee, which accompanied him in the long march, to study and understand the problems of the people in every area at micro level and also explore their solutions.

BROAD SOLIDARITY

After the CPI(M),  the leaders and cadres of the Congress party had largely expressed their solidarity to the long march and participated in it.  People belonging to the CPI, at some places the TDP people, and those from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the BJP wherever they had their presence also met Veerabhadram and other participants in the long march.  In the agency areas, there was good cooperation to the long march from the CPI(ML) New Democracy.  Many voluntary organisations and different associations had welcomed the long march and extended their support.  Though some in the ruling Telugu Desam Party entertained a grouse that they were losing ground because of the long march, solidarity has been expressed to it at the level of the workers of that party.

Neglecting of productive sectors like irrigation and industrialisation  by the rulers is the main reason for the backwardness of the district.  Irrigation, corruption, lack of industries and power are the main issues that had come to the fore during the long march.  While Veerabhadram and the study team investigated into the opportunities available for setting up industries, constructing projects, creating employment and other issues, the people had brought various issues, especially corruption, to their notice.  Corruption in implementation of the food for work programme and construction activities was the foremost issue the people had talked about.  During the long march, Veerabhadram, aided by   the study committee, had brought the immediate problems of the local people to the notice of the authorities concerned and got some of them solved.  Nearly 12,000 representations on various problems were received from the people during the long march.   The problems of the common people have been explained to them in their own language and it was made clear to them that the rulers were responsible for their problems.

PUBLIC MEETING

Addressing the massive public meeting held at Khammam to mark the completion of the long march, Sitaram Yechury  made it clear that development would not be possible through small states and that formation of separate Telangana state would affect the interests of the state.  He warned that due to formation of small states, there was every danger of emergence of authoritarian government at the centre and that with that sinister design only the BJP was demanding formation of small states in the country.  The situation in states like Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal and Jharkhand was an example to show that formation of small states was no solution to the problem of development, Sitaram made it clear. He called upon the people to defeat the anti-people TDP government, if backward areas were to be developed.  The TDP had become a danger to the country by lending its support to the communal BJP, Sitaram said and asserted that whenever elections to the state Legislative Assembly were held the defeat of the TDP-BJP combine was certain.  The way the people have been responding to the public meetings of the CPI(M) held at Kurnool, Miryalaguda and Khammam during the last two days was indicative of that certainty. 

Sitaram lashed out at the Vajapayee government for further increasing poverty in the country during its five-year misrule through its economic policies, though it had come to power on the slogan of eradication of hunger in the country.  On the one hand, about 6 crore tonnes of foodgrains are stored in the godowns of the Food Corporation of India and on the other, starvation deaths of the poorest of the poor are taking place in the country.  In such a situation the government is making money by exporting foodgrains to internatiaonal market.  Contrary to the assurance given by the Vajpayee government to ensure security in the country, it was killing people through its acts of whipping up communal passions.  Under the Vajpayee regime, umpteen affairs of corruption, scandals and misdeeds have been taking place, exposing its tall claims to the contrary as mere bluffing. Sitaram said one was ashamed of expressing one’s identity as an Andhraite in New Delhi, after the unsavoury affairs of Bangaru Lakshman and Venkaiah Naidu.    

Mahaprasthanam was a source of inspiration not only to the CPI(M) but also to all other parties and districts, Raghavulu said and announced that similar activities would be taken up in other parts of the state also.  To expose the deceptive policies of the TDP government, campaign jathas and padayatras would be organised throughout the state from December 17 to 24, and the same would be transformed into a war against the Chandrababu Naidu government, Raghavulu announced.  He challenged Chandrababu, who has been claiming to have achieved development of the state, to seek the verdict of the people in the elections on the plank of development. Raghavulu said issues like public debt of the government, sale of liquor, corruption, suicides of farmers, drought, scandals like those of fake stamp papers, conditionalities of the World Bank and reforms in the power sector would be made the campaign agenda in the forthcoming elections.  He made it clear that with a view to diverting the attention of the people from such issues that Chandrababu Naidu was going to the polls on the plank of the problem of Naxalism.   Raghavulu appealed to the people to teach a fitting lesson to the corrupt, debt-ridden and unjust TDP government at the hustings. 

Dr Y Radhakrishnamurthy, member of the state secretariat of the CPI(M),  said the 100-day long march of Veerabhadram frightened the rulers.  He said it was shame on the part of those who tried to create obstacles to Mahaprasthanam. Veerabhadram announced that with the issues examined during the Mahaprasthanam, a plan would be framed for the all-round development of Khammam district.  The Party would shortly announce programmes of action for implementation of the plan, he said.  Making it clear that development of the district was possible only through people’s movements, Veerabhadram appealed to all the political parties to join hands in this endeavour, irrespective of their politics. T S Prasad,  incharge district secretary of the CPI(M),  presided over the meeting. CPI(M) district secretariat member, B Hymavathy, former MLA Sunnam Rajayya and manager of Mahaprasthanam Saibabu addressed the meeting. Earlier, Sitaram Yechury inaugurated a pillar constructed in Khammam as a sign of marking  the conclusion of the historic Mahaprasthanam.  When the pillar was being constructed, the government got it demolished by deploying police and arrested the leaders and cadres of the CPI(M) who objected to its intolerant act.  However, later in the face of strong criticism from the CPI(M),  other political parties and mass organisations and widespread protest from the people all over the district, the government was forced to relent and permit construction of the pillar.