CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Nilotpal Basu, has written to the chief election commissioner, Election Commission of India on April 9, regarding certain brazen violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by the prime minister, Narendra Modi and by the cabinet minister of Assam, Himanta Biswas Sharma. Modi is also violating the specific direction of the Election Commission to refrain from invoking the armed forces for seeking votes.

WITH barely a week left for campaigning in Kerala, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) is clearly ahead of its rivals – the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the BJP-BDJS alliance. After the withdrawal of nominations, a total of 227 candidates remain in the fray in the 20 parliamentary constituencies in the state.

THE Modi government has enlisted one more government agency illegally to serve its partisan political purpose during the elections. The Income Tax department has been unleashed on opposition political parties and their leaders. The last fortnight has seen a series of raids by IT authorities on leaders of political parties, ministers in non-BJP state governments, businessmen associated with these parties and key aides of chief ministers and ministers in non-BJP state governments.

ON April 5, 2019, a joint platform of five civil society organisations released an urgent appeal signed by over two hundred eminent persons including two former chief election commissioners – N Gopalaswami and SY Quraishi – to the Election Commission and political parties. The five civil society organisations are Common Cause, Constitutional Conduct Group, Free Software Movement of India, Association for Democratic Reforms and Internet Freedom Foundation.

THE election campaign of CPI(M) candidate J P Gavit for the Dindori (ST) Lok Sabha seat in Nashik district took off on April 4, 2019 with a massive 25,000-strong public meeting at Chandwad that was addressed by CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury. Seven time and sitting MLA J P Gavit is a member of the CPI(M) Central Committee and former president of the Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha (AIKS). He was one of the outstanding leaders of the historic AIKS-led Kisan Long March from Nashik to Mumbai in March 2018.