KOCHI : The Congress’ Samaragni Janakeeya Yatra, a statewide march led by the party’s state president K Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan against the anti-people policies of the Union and state governments, was accorded a warm reception at Aluva and Kochi on Monday. Congress Working Committee member Ramesh Chennithala inaugurated the meetings organised at the Aluva bus stand and Marine Drive on the first day of the march in Ernakulam district.
Blaming the state government for the migration of youth to foreign countries, Chennithala said Kerala is currently witnessing a mass exodus.
“The reason for the mass exodus of the young generation from Kerala is the realisation that they cannot live in this country. The new generation is not satisfied with the higher education and job opportunities available. Colleges have turned into riot zones. The sanctity of educational institutions has been lost,” he said while inaugurating the meeting at Marine Drive.
Chennithala said the UDF, should it come to power, will provide better higher education and job opportunities for the youth so that they can continue to live here. The former Leader of Opposition also said that the BJP is propagating the politics of hate by mixing religion with politics.
“The Modi government, which has ruled the country for ten years, could not point out any significant development initiative. They tried to eliminate schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. India has become a poor country and the country’s rank in the global poverty index has fallen to 162,” he alleged.
Chennithala said while Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised the creation of two crore jobs annually, youngsters are not getting jobs.
“Even if they wish to join the armed forces, there is a ban on jobs. Besides, he (Modi) announced that the price of petrol will be fixed at Rs 35. All this was a gimmick to mislead the people,” the senior Congress leader said. Touching on the farmers’ protests, he said: “The farmers’ organisations in north India are on a warpath. The farmers are not getting a minimum price for their produce. The Union government is resorting to teargas and firing at the protesting farmers. In Kerala too, there are farmers’ suicides. They are financially devastated.”