THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The central committee meeting of the RSP has warned UTUC general secretary Abani Roy MP for his act of writing a letter to the Prime Minister without discussing with the party. The offer of resignation by Abani Roy was turned down by the party central committee, which asked him to remain in the party by holding the present offices.
In a letter, Abani Roy has allegedly asked the PM to intervene in a dispute between telecom companies. When the letter became a controversy with some alleging Roy of taking sides in favour of a corporate house, he informed party general secretary T J Chandrachoodan his willingness to resign from the party.
“Abani Roy is a venerated comrade. The party decided not to accept his offer to resign,’’ Chandrachoodan told the media after a meeting of the central committee. When asked whether Abani Roy was censured, Chandrachoodan replied in the negative.
The RSP decided to harden its stand towards the Congress. “The Congress has become a party that is controlled by corporate houses,’’ said Chandrachoodan.
West Bengal minister and RSP state secretariat member Kshiti Goswamy criticised the CPM for allying with the Congress in the Siliguri municipal corporation election. “If this is their line, they are not Marxists. They are only a social democratic party,’’ said Goswamy.
Terming ASEAN free trade agreement detrimental to the interest of farmers in Kerala, Assam and Bengal, RSP asked the Union Government to back out from the agreement. “The negative list is merely an eyewash,’’ Chandrachoodan said. The state unit of the RSP will take out a Raj Bhavan march on November 5 in protest against the ASEAN pact.
Hailing the Kerala model of price control of essential commodities, the RSP asked other state governments to emulate Kerala and open fair price shops to sell essential commodities. The state governments were asked to bring in legislations to prevent hoarding.
The party also decided to intensify its activities among Dalits. “That is the only way to check Maoist and Naxal activities among Dalits,’’ Chandrachoodan said.