Left-affiliated trade unions, the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and some other central trade unions, have called a day-long general strike on August 20. The Congress would normally have ignored this protest from the Left; except, August 20 is former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's birth anniversary. The Congress leadership has already tried to tell the Left not to call a strike on that date "" one among three or four most auspicious on the Congress calendar. |
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the ruling party's pointsman for the Left parties, telephoned Communist Party of India (Marxist) Politburo Member Sitaram Yechuri informally last week and requested him to intervene to postpone the strike.
But the efforts have been to no avail. An adamant CITU leadership told Business Standard that it had not received any such request and will not postpone the strike.
"We want to celebrate Rajiv Gandhi's birthday by highlighting the problems of the aam aadmi (common man) through our strike," CITU National President and CPI(M) Central Committee Member Tapan Sen said.
Mukherjee had told Yechuri that the day was special for all Congressmen and more importantly, a 'wrong message' might go to Sonia Gandhi if the Left sponsored a strike on that day. Although Yechuri, the Congress' best friend in the red corner, did promise he would talk to the trade union leadership, nothing happened.
The sponsoring committee of the central trade unions "" the apex body which calls the shots in such joint ventures of protest "" had declared its programme way back in May.
"Along with the state and central government employees, industrial workers, banking, insurance and medical sector employees too, will join the nationwide strike on August 20 to protest against the anti-people policies of the UPA government", CITU Secretary Dipankar Mukherjee said. Congress' trade union wing, the Indian National Trade Union Congress, and the Bharatiya Janata Party-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh are not part of this agitation.
According to party sources, Sonia Gandhi is already disillusioned about the Left "" she has to tolerate them, although they have done everything possible to derail her party's programmes and policies during the four years of the United Progressive Alliance regime. But the general strike on Rajiv Gandhi's birthday may be a personal blow to Sonia.
