Thiruvananthapuram: The biggest struggle of the people is for livelihood and if political activists think that any other struggle is superior to that, the common people will reject such political parties, says Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in an article released in connection with the conclusion of his mass contact programme. He was indirectly referring to the outburst of homemaker Sandhya against LDF leaders for blocking her way in Thiruvananthapuram.
Chandy wrote the article after he toured all the 14 districts in the state during the second phase of the mass contact programme. “We should consider ourselves extremely lucky when we see the sufferings of the common people.
I have been moved beyond words after listening to the people’s woes. Occasionally, when I see these sufferings, I think whether these are true. Such are the sufferings that I have been told by the people who come and meet me; and then I think how lucky we are,” he writes.
Another point highlighted in the article is that he felt that the biggest gain through his programme was his meeting the poorest of the poor and understanding their plight. However, he lamented that it was unfortunate that the LDF had boycotted the programme.
“It’s their politics to boycott the programme. Still I will say that they should have participated in it. They lost an opportunity to see for themselves in person the common man’s woes,” he said.
He also wrote that one of the most heart-wrenching episodes was when he read what a government official from Kottayam had noted down.
"In my 31-year-long service as a government official, the mass contact programme, which ended at 4 a.m., will forever be etched in my memory because I was happy that many problems were solved,” the official observed.
