“None of them has ever participated in any political activity; none of them has ever won an election on the basis of popular mandate; and none of them has ever even been particularly loyal to the political party which nominates them. Nonetheless they emerge as key political figures and promote even within a system marked by universal adult suffrage the interests of international finance capital,” the article says.

Strike a pose

The CPM, which often uses the strike as a potent weapon of agitation, criticised the DMK for calling a general strike in Tamil Nadu on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. A news report from Chennai quotes CPM state secretary N Varadharajan as saying that Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s call for a general strike was “high drama”.

Although Left trade unions had observed at least two nation-wide general strikes between 2004 and 2008 when the Left was supporting the UPA government, Varadharajan says “it is an irony that the DMK, a party which is sharing the rule of central government, is announcing general strike against their own government.”

Compiled by Manoj C.G