People's Democracy

On Punjab Assembly Polls 2012

Rajnish Sharma

IT was the first election in Punjab after a long time when the focus was on people’s issues like corruption, price rise, unemployment and development and when both the ruling Alkali-BJP combine and the opposition Congress were forced to talk on the major issues facing the state. (The state went to the polls on January 30.) The reason was the emergence of a Sanjha Morcha (joint front) comprising the People’s  Party of Punjab (PPP), CPI(M), CPI, and  SAD (Longowal)  as a credible, secular and  alternative to the SAD-BJP combine as well as the Congress. Both of these have been ruling the state in turns, by winning elections on negative vote and the anti-incumbency factor. This time, however, the Sanjha Morcha  set the agenda for Punjab elections much in advance. As a CPI((M) Polit Bureau member, Sitaram Yechuri said while addressing election rallies at Mahilpur (Hoshiarpur) and Phillaur (Jalandhar), “This is the first time that the people of Punjab have got an alternative other than the Congress and the Akali-BJP parties.”

While the people of Punjab have so far been constrained to choose between the two options only, this time the PPP and the Left parties put before them another choice. It was the Sanjha Morcha that brought in focus the real issues like corruption, rising prices, unemployment, agricultural crisis, dwindling economy, heavy debts on the state, peasant suicides, costly education, unaffordable health facilities, alarming drug addiction among the youth, and stagnation in industry. The result was all the other political parties too were compelled to talk on these issues. It was also the first time when the Akali Dal had to give up its panthic (religious) agenda which used to be its main poll plank in all the earlier elections. It was thus a positive development. The Congress, which had been banking upon anti-incumbency, negative vote, was also forced to talk about people’s problems and development issues. However, the policies of the Congress and the SAD-BJP combine are the same. As Yechuri said, the Congress and the BJP are not much different from each other, insofar their economic policies or the loot of the country’s exchequer are concerned. Both are pursuing the same neo-liberal policies.

Yet the fact remains that while development is the poll plank of both the parties now, the people of the state have been ruing the lack of development and blaming the Congress and the Akalis for ignoring their problems. While addressing a rally at Ghanaur in Patiala, CPI(M) Central Secretariat member Nilotpal Basu said Punjab has been the granary of the country but it is painful and shameful to see that peasants of the state have been taking recourse to suicide. The reason is that the pro-corporate agricultural policies of  the successive Congress and Akali-BJP governments have made the peasant debt ridden.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat, who campaigned in Punjab for two days and addressed four rallies --- at Binewal  (Garhshankar), Rurka Kalan (Phillaur), Patti (Tarn Taran) and Amritsar --- condemned the Akali-BJP government also for the increasing atrocities against dalits and women. She said the Akali-BJP combine and the Congress  are two sides of the same coin, and appealed to the voters to reject them this time and vote for Sanjha Morcha candidates so as to bring Punjab back to its number one position and restore its old glory and prestige. She assured the people that the Sanjha Morcha would take Punjab on the path of development and provide a responsive government.

CPI(M) Central Committee member Mohammed  Salim also toured the state for two days and addressed election rallies at Malerkota (Sangrur) and Sahnewal (Ludhiana).

CPI(M)’S APPEAL

TO PUNJAB VOTERS

For these polls, on behalf of the CPI(M), its state secretary Charan Singh Virdi released on January 19 an appeal to the voters in Punjab, which assured them that the CPI(M) representatives would work hard to implement the common minimum programme of the Sanjha Morcha. He also assured the people that in the framework of the Rajiv-Longowal accord the CPI(M) would make sincere efforts for the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab, settlement of river water dispute and a just solution on the claims and counter claims regarding territories. Virdi said that the manifestos of the Congress and the Akalis were nothing but two bunches of false promises and that both the parties had, by announcing freebies, been insulting the proud Punjabi community who always believed in “dab ke wah te rajj ke khah” (work hard and eat fulsome). These parties have failed to address the basic problems of unemployment and agriculture.  While admitting that the financial resources and organisational strength of the Sanjha  Morcha were not at par with the other two political parties, Virdi said there was very good response to the Sanjha Morcha campaign all over the state. He expressed the hope that this would be a crucial election and would set a new trend in Punjab.

In its appeal the CPI(M) urged the voters of Punjab to exercise without fear their franchise on January 30, 2012, in favour if the CPI(M) and other Sanjha Morcha candidates in order to get rid of the Congress and the Akali-BJP combine whose successive regimes have pushed Punjab in backward gear. Here a population of one crore, comprising peasants, agricultural workers and industrial workers, is reeling under poverty, and the sate has been pushed to the 14th place among the Indian states.

The CPI(M)’s appeal to the Punjab voters promised to work for waiver of all the debts owed by the peasantry and for setting up of a Kerala type pattern of debt waiving system. The peasantry must be given soft loans at 4 per cent interest rate, and 24 hours power supply to agriculture sector must be ensured; good quality seeds, pesticides and fertilisers must be supplied at subsidised rates. The policy of support price and government procurement must be vigorously followed in order to ensure remunerative prices for agricultural produce. Forward trading must be stopped, irrigation facilities must be expanded and public investment must be made in research. Special attention must be paid to the development of so far neglected Kandi, Bet and border areas.

The CPI(M)’s appeal also stressed that the real issues in these elections were corruption, rising prices, unemployment, crisis in agriculture, costly education and unaffordable health facilities. But both the major parties, i.e. the Akali-BJP combine and the Congress, have been scrupulously avoiding action on these issues.

Regarding industrial workers, the CPI(M) appeal said the party would ensure that the minimum wage of unskilled worker was raised to Rs 10000 per month, and that the contract system was abolished. The minimum wage of agricultural workers would be fixed at Rs 250 per day and they would be ensured work for at least 200 days in a year. The CPI(M) promised that all the 14 essential commodities would be supplied at subsidised rates through the public distribution system (PDS).

Effective steps to stop atrocities on women and dalit people, 33 per cent reservation for women in the state assembly, and stringent enforcement of anti-dowry and anti-domestic violence laws were among the other things the CPI(M) said it would strive for.