Congress Manifesto: A Rehash of Its Earlier Unfulfilled Promises

THE Congress party, with great fanfare, has released its manifesto for the 2014 general elections. Readers will recall that amongst the six national parties, it was the CPI(M) that first released its manifesto to the Indian electorate on March 20, 2014. The Congress manifesto, the country is being told, has been prepared on the basis of a “unique exercise” which is a “reflection of the voice of the people of India”. The manifesto opens with a claim “The open Manifesto Process: Pathbreaking Political Reform”.

Real Face of Imperialism

THE latest display of imperialism’s aggressiveness in its quest for global hegemony has come following the referendum held in the Black Sea Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, where people overwhelmingly voted to join the Russian Federation. In a referendum, endorsed as free and fair by many an international observer, 85 per cent of the people participated of whom 96.9 per cent voted in favour of Crimea joining the Russian Federation.

Growth For All Our People Needed

SECTIONS of the India Inc, the self-appointed drumbeaters of the RSS/BJP’s prime ministerial aspirant, are scaling new heights in the euphoric support. We had the occasion in these columns in the past to note that such euphoria was a chillingly reminiscent of how sections of global capitalists openly assisted the rise of Hitler and fascism in Germany in the 1930s.

Utilise 16th General Elections to Create a Better India

THE schedule for the 16th general elections has been announced. These will be the longest ever general elections planned in the country barring those disrupted and delayed due to exigencies such as prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination or the Kargil war. Spread over five weeks beginning April 7 and ending May 12 – these elections will be held in nine phases, the largest number so far.

Relief for People only through An Alternative Policy Trajectory

THE Joint Declaration issued by the secular non-Congress, non-BJP opposition parties in the light of the forthcoming 16th general elections made it unequivocally clear that they have come together responding to the overwhelming urge of our people who are desperately looking for relief from the growing economic burdens that are leading to a sharp decline in quality of life. Apart from the four Left parties, leaders of five other regional parties were present at the meeting.

2014-15 INTERIM BUDGET: Widening Hiatus between the Two Indias

USING the excuse that two of his predecessors – BJP’s Jaswant Singh in 2004 and Congress’s Pranab Mukherjee in 2009 – used the occasion of seeking a vote on account on the eve of general elections to make a political declaration on the so-called economic achievements of their supportive governments, P Chidambaram let loose a string of expletives claiming miraculous economic achievements during the last ten years of the UPA government.

RSS/BJP Unleashes a Charade on the Indian People

THE RSS/BJP and its PM aspirant’s desperation at the possible emergence of a combination of secular opposition parties – non-Congress, non-BJP – in the run up to the 2014 general elections has reached a new crescendo. A litany of epithets have been unleashed which should be considered unbecoming by anybody, particularly by somebody who is self-proclaimed by the RSS/BJP as India’s future prime minister. Some of his comments denouncing the `third front’ as `third rate’ have drawn a spontaneous response that such comments can come only from a `third rate’ mindset!

Prevent Cynical Manipulation of Parliament

THE last session of the parliament before the forthcoming 15th general elections to the country has begun as we go to press. The manner in which this session has been conceived and structured, created apprehensions at the outset about the government's intentions to use this session more as a launch pad for its election campaign, rather than to transact business to implement important, long-standing, pending legislations, particularly those aimed at providing relief to the already beleaguered vast mass of the people.

For Stability and Prosperity : A Coalition of Secular Democratic Alternative

ADDRESSING the nation on the eve of the Republic Day, President Pranab Mukherjee articulated the almost universal concern in the country over the failure to meet people’s aspirations. Hailing the establishment and evolution of Indian democracy, he said, “I am not a cynic because I know that democracy has this marvellous ability to self-correct. It is the physician that heals itself, and 2014 must become a year of healing after the fractured and contentious politics of the last few years”.

High Rhetoric, Zero Content: Greater Misery for People

IF at all there was any reconfirmation that was ever needed on the score that there is virtually no difference – virtuality lies in the semantic verbiage – on matters of economic policy between the Congress and the BJP, it has come in the RSS/BJP’s prime ministerial prospect’s address at the recently held BJP’s national council meeting.

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