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Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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Yechury: reduce the gap between shining India and suffering India

Special Correspondent

DYFI rally urges youth to join hands to build a strong nation

— Photo: M. Vedhan

FOR A STRONG INDIA: Sitaram Yechury, CPI (M) Polit Bureau member, N. Sankaraiah, party's Central Control Commission chairman, and K.N. Balagopal, All-India DYFI president at the DYFI's 8th All-India Conference in Chennai on Monday.

CHENNAI: The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) on Monday urged youth to join hands to build a strong India.

At a massive rally and a public meeting held here ahead of the eighth national conference, scheduled to open on Tuesday, DYFI general secretary Tapas Sinha said the organisation had enrolled more than 35 lakh members from the time the last conference was held in Amristar three years ago.

The total membership is now more than 1.63 crore.

CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said the challenge before the people was whether they would be able to build a better India by reducing the gap between shining India and suffering India.

"The future will determine on the basis of our struggles whether we will have a better India in which there will be jobs and education and health for all or we will have this twin Indias where one India will be prosperous but the vast majority of India will be in distress," he said.

Mr. Yechury explained the reasons for the Left parties supporting the United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre and said they were not happy over the manner in which inflation was allowed to soar and over the government's response to the agrarian crisis in the country.

In the past three years more than 20,000 farmers had died, he said. The government was importing five million tonnes of wheat at a rate ranging between Rs. 1,200 and Rs. 1,600 a quintal while the support price it gave farmers here was only Rs. 850. He asked why the Union Government could not give the price it paid to foreign farmers to Indians.

Senior CPI (M) leader N. Sankaraiah said it was the duty of all to defeat the designs of communal elements. The forces that presided over the blood bath over the Ram temple in Ayodhya were trying to divide people in the name of the Ram bridge. The Sethusamudram project was a dream of the Tamil people as it would bring prosperity to the southern districts. But attempts were on to dash this by provoking communal feelings.

DYFI president K.N. Balagopal said representatives from France, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Portugal had already arrived. Delegates are expected from Vietnam, Cuba, Zimbabwe and Greece.

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