In a statement, Shanmugam said the decision to organise the campaign was taken at the CPM state committee meeting held in Kanyakumari on July 31 and August 1. He said all 12,000 party branches in Tamil Nadu should fully involve themselves in the campaign.

“The objective is to meet as many people as possible and engage in a direct dialogue with them,” he said, adding that the party wanted to understand people's views on its work in Tamil Nadu, its political positions, and the criticism and appreciation it received.

He said the campaign would also focus on understanding the problems people were facing and the measures they expected the party to take. Citing the Marxist principle of “going to the people and learning from them”, Shanmugam said party workers should listen patiently whether people appreciated, criticised or opposed the party, and respond appropriately.

“Working people are our foundation and we must give due importance to their feelings and views,” he said.

Shanmugam said the party had decided to distribute several lakh pamphlets during the six-day campaign. The pamphlets, already prepared in all districts, would contain questions and demands raised by the CPM with the Union government.

The campaign would also take up issues confronting Tamil Nadu and seek to engage people on the measures and approaches that the TVK government should adopt to address them, he said.

The campaign would be conducted in every village and ward. Street-corner meetings would be organised in the evenings, followed by public meetings at the end of the campaign, he said.

Shanmugam said the campaign had been designed to enable thousands of party workers, from the state secretary and members of the political leadership to branch secretaries and grassroots members, to visit homes across Tamil Nadu and interact directly with people.