New Delhi: Left parties have joined forces and decided to fight on 14 seats in the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls focussing on various “anti people” policies, resist communal campaigns and highlighting issues of the working poor.
“The CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) LIBERATION, SUCI(C), Forward Bloc, RSP and Socialist Party (India) have come to a seat-sharing arrangement and will be extending support to each other on 14 seats,” a Delhi CPI statement said today.
The parties has decided to field its candidates in Timarpur, Ballimaran, Palam, Trilokpuri and Krishna Nagar (CPI), Karawal Nagar and Dwarka (CPI-M), Narela, Wazirpur and Kondli (CPI(M-L) Liberation), Mundka and Nangloi Jat (AIFB), Badli and Sadar Bazar (SUCI–C).
The party statement said that although Socialist Party (India) and RSP are not contesting any seat, they will support the above candidates fielded by other Left parties.
“We will be seeking to highlight issues of Delhi’s working poor including implementation of minimum wage and all labour laws, ending contractualization, upholding the right of all street hawkers to ply their livelihood without harassment, end to demolition of jhuggis, legal ownership to slum dwellers…
“…The Left parties are also committed to actively resisting communal campaigns and promoting unity and peace among people,” the statement said.
The party alleged that the Narendra Modi government is vehemently pushing forward the neo-liberal agenda as a kind of pay back to the corporates for their support in the elections and is “hell bent on changing labour laws in favour of employers”.
“The RSS-BJP is indulging in a venomous communal campaign in order to divide the people and deflect the growing discontent against their government into disruptive channels.
“In Delhi, the BJP-RSS have made cynical attempts to engineer communal violence in Bawana, Trilokpuri, Sriram Colony, Nand Nagri, Madanpur Khadar and others. Their immediate aim is to polarize people on communal lines for electoral gains in the forthcoming Assembly elections…,” it said.
The party said that both the BJP and Congress which have successively ruled Delhi are squarely responsible for the never ending rise in prices of food stuffs, large scale unemployment, dismal state of housing, water, electricity, education, health and other civic facilities, violence on women and other such issues.
The party said that in this background, large sections of people who were fed up with both these parties voted for the AAP in the state Assembly elections in December, 2013.
“However, the manner in which the AAP quit government after just 49 days without seriously attempting to fulfil its electoral promises, disappointed many of its supporters.
“In this elections, issues of the working class and Delhi’s poor have again taken a backseat, even in AAP’s campaign, as the party too is unwilling to enunciate any alternate policy framework and is willy-nilly stuck in the same neo-liberal trajectory without rejecting which the basic problems of the people cannot be addressed in any meaningful manner,” the party said.
The party appealed to the people of Delhi to extend support and vote for Left candidates to ensure that there is a “robust” voice of opposition inside and outside the Delhi Assembly that can champion the issues of Delhi’s common people, poor and working masses with greater strength.
