Hanumangarh district of western Rajasthan, once considered a bastion of the Left under leadership of legendary communist and Kisan leader Com. Sheopat Singh appears to be seeing a sort of revival of fortunes. For the elections slated on 1st December, the CPI(M) is contesting all the five assembly seats in this district. This also includes the mainly urban Hanumangarh seat, held more than once by Com Sheopat Singh himself. After a break of ten years, the Party has put up young advocate and DYFI state president, Raghuveer Verma from here. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha, Sitaram Yechury campaigning for Verma, addressed this afternoon an impressive meeting at Dhan Mandi in Hanumangarh town.
Addressing large and responsive crowd including big number of poor women, Yechury terming BJP’s divisive politics, politics of Dussashan (ill-governance) and Congress’s ruling class politics, politics of Sinhasan (throne), appealed for strengthening politics of Jansashan (people’s rule) represented by the CPI(M). Predicting a hung assembly Yechury also called for sending larger number of CPI(M) members in the new assembly so that opening is created for pushing ahead decisions and policies favouring poor and working masses. Beside candidate Raghuveer Verma and other local leaders , CPI(M) central secretariat member Hannan Mollah and CPI(M) Haryana state secretary and central committee member Inderjeet Singh also addressed the meeting.
Establishing itself as the main political force fighting for people’s interests, one of many sustained struggles CPI(M) has launched in this district is that of NREGA workers. In a district where leaders of both leading bourgeoisie parties actually want to see NREGA stalled to depress rural wages, party has fought for keeping it going, expanding work under it, increasing number of work days to 200 in a year and daily wage rate of Rs. 300. No surprise that poor rural women workers, largely from socially weaker section in large numbers are working actively for CPI(M) candidates. Similar is story of scheme workers. Beside various issues concerning peasantry, CPI(M) here has also taken up issues including declaring district rice belt, utilizing Ghaghar water, making toll roads more accessible to local rural people and even improving law and order situation.
Balram Punia, contesting from Bhadara is said to have a distinct edge over his Congress and BJP rivals. A recognized Kisan leader of the area, he has led the struggle on question of water and electricity. Beside government repression for these agitations, leading the fight against liquor mafia and it’s antisocial activities, he has also faced a nearly fatal physical attack from the same mafia. Besides large number of kisan workers, students and youth in huge numbers are campaigning for CPI(M) candidate here. Last election Punia had polled more than 15 thousand votes. CPI(M) district secretary Rameshwar Verma said that Maniram, the party candidate from Pilibanga and Jageet Singh Jaggi, the Party candidate from Sangaria are also putting up a good fight.
Hanumangarh, 25 November 2013.