Secular parties' meet on Feb. 20

By Our Special Correspondent

SALEM, FEB. 1. The CPI(M) Central Committee member, Mr. T.K. Rangarajan, said a special regional meeting of the secular and democratic political parties would be held at Salem on February 20.

Mr Rangarajan told presspersons here today that in the meeting, leaders of the political parties such as the AIADMK, the TMC, the Congress(I), the CPI(M), the CPI, the DK, and the Janata Dal would participate.

The meeting would analyse ways and means to strengthen the secular parties vis-a-vis the communal outfits. He voiced concern over the exercise being undertaken by the BJP-led Government at the Centre to review the Constitution, despite the caution sounded by the President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan.

The Sangh Parivar seemed determined to go ahead with their programme to build the Ram temple at Ayodhya. This stubborn stand and the tacit support given by the NDA, had raised a serious question of whether the law of the land would be respected, he said.

As far as Tamil Nadu was concerned, the industrial and agricultural sectors were facing a set back. The prices of paddy and turmeric had fallen drastically and the industrial growth had virtually come to a standstill. The sugar mills had accumulated losses to the tune of Rs. 700 crores and around Rs. 100 crores were due to dairy farmers.

About 300 textile mills in the State was in the red or had closed down. When the trade barriers were brought down after WTO treaties become operational, the domestic industries would get a severe jolt.

Under these circumstances, there was a need for creating a third alternative which would be a forum for evolving an economic agenda that would protect the domestic industry. The so-called economic reforms initiated by the Narasimha Rao Government had opened the floodgates, thus injuring domestic products. The ``swadeshi'' concept propagated by the BJP was only to hoodwink the people, and therefore, the third alternative would be a non- Congress (I), non-BJP set-up, he added.

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