LUCKNOW: The first national convention of the People’s Politics Front (PPF) shall be convened here in the state capital of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday and Friday.
“The People’s Politics Front has been formed to build a political alternative in the country so that the people’s issues can be brought to center-stage and the dominant model of mainstream political parties that rely on muscle power, money power and unscrupulous ways for winning elections can be rejected,” said Sandeep Pandey, the Magsaysay awardee (2002 for emergent leadership.
“The PPF is slowly but surely rising from its inception stage,” said Arundhati Dhuru, the firebrand leader of National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM).
On Thursday a public meeting is scheduled at Ganga Prasad Memorial Hall in Aminabad, Lucknow, and on Friday a meeting of social activists will be convened in the Common Hall, “B” Block, Darul Shafa, opposite assembly house, Lucknow.
“People’s issues highlighted through various people’s movements are sadly not at the center-stage in the elections,” said Pandey.
NAPM, the largest network of grassroots people’s struggles in India, came up with PPF before the 2004 parliamentary elections. The PPF gives voice and a platform to grassroots activists to participate in the electoral process.
“The PPF is trying to increase representation and meaningful participation of the most underserved communities. It is within this context that the role of people’s movements becomes imperative. The movements have been ‘in politics’, as they have been shaping and trying to change the power structure and decision making processes within society. That is what politics is all about. Electoral politics is one of the dimensions of the larger political sphere,” said Arundhati Dhuru, who apart from leading the NAPM, is also a Narmada Bachao Andolan frontline veteran activist, who is actively working on right-to-food and RTI (Right to Information) act all across Uttar Pradesh.
