WHILE the working people the world over express their solidarity with each other in their struggles to end exploitation on May Day, the BJP and Narendra Modi are preoccupied with disrupting such unity and solidarity through their venomous campaign of communal polarization.

The first three phases of the 17th general elections saw the electorate voting in 302 seats out of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. The ruling BJP has 113 sitting MPs from these constituencies.

PEOPLE all over the West Tripura parliamentary seat came out to demand countermanding the poll held on April 11 and hold a fresh poll. At the call of the Left Front, protest marches and dharnas were organised in different subdivisions falling under the constituency. 

As is separately reported in this very issue of People’s Democracy, the CPI(M)  has met the  Election Commission of India and demanded the same, citing major and widespread irregularities on the day of poll. 

PEOPLE in the East Tripura parliamentary constituency exercised their voting rights in large numbers on April 23 despite attempts by goons of the ruling BJP to intimidate them. Polling in the constituency was deferred from April 18 to April 23 as the prevailing law-and-order situation there, was not conducive for holding free and fair poll. In the first phase polling in West Tripura seat on April 11, there were reports of largescale violence and booth capturing.

FIRST the Modi government in its last budget announced a scheme of transferring Rs 6000 per annum per household to a targeted group of small peasants (about 12 crores), obviously with an eye on the coming elections. But the amount promised was so trivial, and the exercise so fraught with non-seriousness of intent (except perhaps to make some money available to local cronies in the election season), that Modi himself has refrained from tom-tomming it in his election speeches.

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi betrays a sense of desperation in the shrill campaign that he is conducting in these general elections.  Earlier, in a speech at Latur in Maharashtra, he called for people to vote for the BJP in the name of the Pulwama martyrs.  The Election Commission’s action against this speech is still awaited. On April 21, the last day of campaigning in Gujarat, Modi said, had Pakistan not returned the Indian Air Force pilot, then it would have been a qatal ki raat (night of slaughter).