Thus elections to the 18th Lok Sabha assume critical importance as its outcome will determine if “we the people’’ through our vote in the elections can safeguard the secular, democratic character of the Indian republic as ordained by the constitution of India. We should make no mistake about it – the Lok Sabha elections are about saving India, against the effort of the BJP to transform the secular, democratic character of the Indian republic into a rabidly intolerant, hate and violence based authoritarian and fascistic Hindutva rashtra. This is the openly stated goal of the RSS, the father organisation of the BJP which has now unprecedented access to every institution in the country, spreading its communal poison into the veins of India.

In these five years since the last Lok Sabha elections, India has also witnessed a fight back, a resistance through democratic struggles of the working people, the kisans, the workers, adivasis, dalits, women, youth and students. Many of these struggles, in particular the historic struggle of the kisans, have proved that a people united can challenge and defeat the might and power and repression unleashed by this government. In this period, we have also seen the possibility of alternative policies such as those implemented by the Left Democratic Front government (LDF) in Kerala led by the CPI(M) which has, despite all the central efforts to strangulate it financially, emerged as a beacon of pro-people policies and communal harmony.

The CPI(M) places its manifesto before the people of India with a clear understanding that it is the bounden duty of every patriot to first and foremost ensure the defeat of the BJP and its allies. The CPI(M) pledges to do everything in its capacity to strengthen this collective duty and to help the establishment of a secular government at the centre. For this, and to ensure pro-people policies, a stronger presence of the CPI(M) in parliament is essential.

In Part I, the manifesto focuses on the main current issues. In Part II, the manifesto reflects the CPI(M)’s approach for alternative policies which affect various sections of our people.

DEFEND SECULARISM

Democracy and secularism are inextricably intertwined. Democracy itself gets undermined if secular principles are eliminated as is being done under BJP rule.

The Constitution guarantees the right of every citizen to their religious faith including being an atheist. Under the constitution, as reflected also in several judgements of the Supreme Court, the State and government are prohibited from being identified with or promoting any particular religion. This mandatory separation between religion and politics, has been virtually abandoned. The inauguration of the temple at Ayodhya by the prime minister himself conducting religious rituals usurping the role of religious functionaries is a blatant assault on the fundamental principle of separation of religion from the State. Nor is it the only example. The inauguration of the new parliament building, or the Kashi Vishwanath Ganga corridor, were conducted with Modi as the high priest, leading the Hindu religious rituals and projected as State sponsored events.  The signals are clear: under the BJP government, India is increasingly becoming a Hindutva State, based on a Manuvadi ideology.

The notification of the Rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 (CAA), on the eve of elections is a dangerous step designed to polarise the electorate. The CPI(M) and other democratic parties have strongly opposed this law since it seeks to link citizenship with religion and is thus highly discriminatory. The Kerala LDF government headed by the CPI(M) was the first in the country to adopt a resolution that it would not be implemented in Kerala. To bypass the opposition of state governments, the notified rules deprive state government representation in the panels to decide citizenship registration except as invitees. This is another assault on the constitution.

Vicious campaigns of hate and violence targeting religious minorities, particularly Muslims, are rapidly growing. Armed mobs are allowed to carry out communal attacks. The communal violence in Delhi in 2020 was an organized, pre-planned assault. No legal actions have been taken against the perpetrators, BJP ministers and leaders who gave incendiary speeches spreading hate and violence have gone scot free, but the victims have been prosecuted. BJP state governments are legitimising private armies to assault minorities, and many have employed the policy of bulldozer politics, unlawfully demolishing the houses and commercial establishments of Muslims in the name of illegal encroachment. BJP state governments have enacted laws aiming to sharpen communal polarisation. These range from issues concerning cow and cattle protection, cattle trade and meat selling, the so-called love jihad, Uniform Civil Code etc., which routinely target innocent people from minority communities, physically attacking them and legally prosecuting them. Campaigns of such vicious hate and violence have been normalised, with dangerously growing calls for the genocide of Muslims in the so-called dharma sansads.

The assaults on Christian minorities have also increased exponentially in this period, with the most draconian laws being adopted by the BJP state governments in the name of anti-conversion. The attacks particularly target poor tribal communities. Manipur is the tragic example of the havoc caused by the majoritarian policies of the BJP-double engine governments where tribals were specifically targeted both because of their ethnicity as well as their religion, the vast majority being Christian. Manipur is the most graphic example of how such divisive politics can destroy diversity and pluralism, so unique to India, particularly the north-east.

The CPI(M) can legitimately claim to be an example of the unity of precept and practice in the defence of secularism. It has a proud record of standing by the rights of minority communities and the marginalised without any compromise or exception, while strongly opposing and fighting back all forces of minority fundamentalism.

The CPI(M) pledges to fight for an uncompromising adherence to the principle that religion is separated from politics, the State, the government and administration. It will fight for a law against hate speech and crimes. It is committed to scrapping the CAA.

SAVE DEMOCRACY

The Modi government has an undeclared policy of criminalising all dissent as being anti-national, thus undermining the very basis of a democratic country – the right to dissent. It has indiscriminately used draconian laws such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), National Security Act (NSA) and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to detain hundreds of people, including prominent and committed political, democratic activists without charges, denying them the right to bail, simply because they have opposed the policies of the Modi government. In particular journalists who refuse to surrender their duty for impartial reporting, are special targets of attack, destroying the essential institution of an independent media which is now almost fully controlled by the big business friends of the Modi government. The worst repression is faced by mass struggles of the working people. It is unheard of that an elected government should use drones to fire teas gas shells at peacefully protesting farmers, treating them as enemies of the nation, which is what the Modi government has done.

In the last five years, parliament itself has been severely undermined, with the wholesale expulsion of opposition MPs sometimes for the entire session, the bulldozing of laws without reference to all-party panels such as the standing committees, using a majority to push through laws without discussions.

Additionally, constitutionally mandated independent institutions designed to function as checks and balances – parliament, judiciary, election commission and others are being gravely undermined. Institutions formed through mass struggles such as the Women’s Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the Information Commission, have been functioning as arms of the government. Central agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax Department (IT) are functioning as the political arm of the ruling party, targeting opposition leaders. The aim is to terrorise, intimidate, bully them to join the ruling party and if they do, all charges vanish. The BJP slogan is “either join us or go to jail.”

The brazen use of money power, accumulated through a variety of dubious ways, is used for largescale horse-trading and toppling democratically elected governments. In many states where the BJP lost elections, it succeeded in forming and heading the state governments in this manner. This makes a mockery of democracy and negates people’s electoral mandate.

The recent Supreme Court judgement against the entire electoral bond scheme in which the CPI(M) was a petitioner, validates the strong and principled opposition of the CPI(M) to the electoral bond scheme as an avenue for the legalisation of political corruption. Till the last, the Modi government has tried to conceal the huge funding it has received proving it to hold a record in political corruption by trying to conceal its quid pro quo with its corporate friends. The BJP under its present leadership has proved to be the most corrupt.

The Modi government has put in place the framework of a chilling surveillance State that completely violates the fundamental right to privacy of the citizens. It has put in place draconian laws like the Personal Data Protection Act, the Criminal Procedure Identification Act etc., for collection of Bio-metric data of all people detained in custody, not only the convicted. It has used the notorious Israeli Pegasus spyware against opposition leaders, journalists and social activists. The strengthening of the police State by instituting a surveillance regime threatens the basic democratic rights and civil liberties of citizens guaranteed by our constitution.

The CPI(M) stands for the scrapping of all draconian laws like UAPA and PMLA; for steps to protect and strengthen the autonomy of independent institutions, for defence of the democratic rights of the people

DEFEND ECONOMIC SOVEREIGNTY

The massive propaganda blitz to portray the Indian economy as being the fastest growing one in the world with increased prosperity of the people is largely based on massive data fudging undertaken by the government. Just one instance: the nominal GDP growth this year is 9.1 per cent. To arrive at the real growth rate this is deflated by an inflation index. The government has used 1.5 as the deflator when the rate of inflation is around 6 per cent and food inflation is more than 10 per cent. If 6 is used as the deflator, close to the rate of inflation, then the real growth rate would be around 3 per cent. But government tries to conceal this dismal reality. India has a per capita GDP, which is the lowest among the G-20 countries.

The “made in India” slogan of the Modi government has actually been a “loot of India” policy. The corporate-communal nexus symbolised by the Modi regime has promoted vicious crony capitalism and the loot of national assets. For example, the National Monetisation Pipeline is the phased handing over to the private sector of the entire infrastructure sector, built with public investment. With no investment, the private sector gets a license of monopoly control to mint revenue. The country’s mineral wealth and natural resources have been thrown open for private loot. Various laws have been enacted and in other cases, protective laws have been amended to facilitate this loot at the expense of tribal and other forest dwelling communities who are facing massive displacement, apart from the effects of largescale deforestation and environmental damage.

In fact the Modi government has accelerated the pace of de-regularisation of the Indian economy and privatising the public sector, which has greatly benefited both foreign and domestic corporates. Cronies are permitted to loot people’s lifelong savings from bank deposits. Since 2014, Modi government has written off Rs.17.46 Lakh Crores of bank loans. Huge tax concessions to corporates and the rich are being provided. This is sharply widening economic inequalities. Oxfam shows that more than 40 per cent of India’s wealth is owned by a mere 1 per cent of the population. The bottom 50 per cent accounts for a meagre 3 per cent. The total number of billionaires increased from 102 in 2020 to 169 in 2023.

On the other hand, there has been an unprecedented offensive against India’s working classes stripping them of their hard won rights which are replaced with pro-corporate labour codes. The basic right to unionise is also under severe attack.

The government is in fact weakening economic sovereignty by seeking to corporatise the farming sector with an all-round attack on rights of India’s farmers. Though in the face of the historic one year struggle of farmers, it was forced to retract its three anti-farmer, anti-consumer laws, it has betrayed farmers by not implementing its assurances. This actually undermines India’s self-reliance and economic sovereignty.

There can be no economic sovereignty without the protection of India’s public sector, its natural wealth, the rights of its labour force, its kisans.

The CPI(M) is committed to policies to protect India’s economic sovereignty. It holds that privatisation of the public sector must be revisited and reversed. A tax on the super-rich along with a general wealth tax and an inheritance tax must be legislated, workers’ rights reflected in pro-worker laws must replace the labour codes; food security depends on ensuring security of the farmers of India though a legal guarantee of MSP according to the Swaminathan Commission recommendations 

CONTROL PRICES, ENSURE FOOD SECURITY,

STRENGTHEN PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM

The Modi government’s criminal mishandling of the Covid pandemic and its flawed unscientific approach led to a massive increase in suffering and causalities among the people. In that scenario, the Kerala model with a robust health care system showed an alternative. The insurance based health care in fact mainly helps the private sector. Instead there should be a combination of strengthening of the public health sector while ensuring the rights of individual patients seeking medical care.

The Modi government has concocted ways to conceal the extent of India’s growing poverty by its use of a so-called multi-dimensional index which includes such factors like jan dhan account, having a toilet in the house etc. In fact every important index which actually measures poverty such as the global hunger index, the National Sample Survey and family health surveys show high levels of malnutrition, hunger and deprivation among the people, particularly women and children. A report of 5 UN agencies on food security (2023) shows that 74.1 per cent of Indians, approximately 1.043 billion people, could not afford a healthy diet in 2021.

The Modi government has followed policies which have led to unprecedented price increases. It has hiked the prices of petroleum products garnering revenue through increased duties to the extent of a whopping 28.33 lakh crores rupees between 2014-2015 to the first half of 2023-24. This is nothing but a massive pickpocket exercise from peoples earnings. Such price hikes have a cascading impact on hiking prices of essential commodities affecting common people, particularly women who sacrifice their own needs for family survival.

Instead of cutting the duties and ensuring expanded public distribution system which is being done by some state governments, notably the LDF government in Kerala, the Modi government has actually drastically cut the budgetary allocations for food and reduced the amount of foodgrains available to the people.

At the same time the Labour Force Survey has shown that average real wages are stagnating since 2014. The median real wages are, therefore, clearly falling leading to lower consumption. Household savings have recorded a 47 year low in 2023 (RBI). This is leading to household indebtedness with borrowing for consumption needs sharply growing. This has resulted in a depressed domestic demand which, in turn, is leading to a decline in manufacturing and hence employment generation. The key to rejuvenation of the Indian economy is policies to increase the purchasing power of the people.

The CPI(M) stands for an urgent reduction in the duties on petroleum products, policies to control price rise and along with the supply of free rations of 5 kg grains for 81 crore people, 5 kgs of subsidized grains (rice Rs 3/kg; wheat Rs. 2/kg and coarse grain at Rs.1/kg) must be restored.  A universal public healthcare system with state funding must be immediately implemented

UNEMPLOYMENT

One of the biggest failures of the Modi government has been the huge increase in unemployment. The Modi government had promised two crore jobs a year. Far from implementing this guarantee, the last five years have actually seen a reduction in jobs. India has the highest levels of unemployment recorded in recent decades contradicting the Modi government’s boast of a six-year low unemployment rate in 2023. The CMIE has shown that unemployment rate was 8.1 per cent in August 2023. The youth unemployment (15-24 years) was 23.22 per cent. Among graduates, it is a whopping 42 per cent. Even in the much fancied IT sector 65,000 employees were retrenched by the top four corporates between January-December 2023. Women have been the worst hit, particularly rural women.

There are an estimated 25 lakh jobs vacant in various government departments and public sector undertakings. The government has deliberately not filled up these vacancies. Instead under its rule the quality of jobs has seen a sharp deterioration with the mass casualisation, contractorisation and informalisation of jobs across sectors. This includes the manufacturing sector, the public and private sector and government sector. Thus there is a huge attack on the most productive workforce in its entirety. Even recruitment in the armed forces – critical for the country’s security are now being contractorised with the cruel “agniveer” scheme.

The huge loss in jobs and incomes particularly in rural India witnessed during the Covid period has hardly changed. But given the dearth of employment in urban areas, India today is experiencing a reverse migration – people returning to villages for survival. In 2023-24 around 9.84 crore households had opted to work under MGNREGA in spite of the hard work and low wages, reflecting the dearth of alternative employment. But even here the Modi government has betrayed the people by cutting down on allocations for MNREGA leading to huge wage arrears.

The CPI(M) stands for the inclusion of the Right to Work as a constitutional right. The vacancies in government and public sector posts must be filled urgently. Strengthen and expand MSMEs which can generate jobs. The budgetary allocations for MGNREGA must be doubled; a new law guaranteeing urban employment must be legislated and an unemployment allowance must be provided. The destruction of India’s demographic dividend must be reversed through a change in current policies of job loss growth.

STRENGTHEN THE UNIVERSAL RIGHT TO EDUCATION,

STOP PRIVATISATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

The National Education Policy 2020 is an outright assault on the right to education with its emphasis on commercialisation, centralisation and communalisation. The budgetary allocations for public education are less than 3 per cent of the GDP while concessions are being given to private players to change the right to education into a right to make profit at the expense of the mass of students and young people. Simultaneously the NEP advocates a communalisation of education with the most outrageous omissions and commissions in syllabi, which seek to entirely distort history, promoting unscientific and irrational thinking. The trend of centralisation of authority under the central government is an assault on the rights of states in the running of educational institutions in their respective states, including in the appointment of vice chancellors and faculty. A most disturbing trend is the appointment of persons not on the basis of merit but on the basis of loyalty to Hindutva ideologies.

The CPI(M) stands for an increase to at least 6 per cent of GDP in budgetary allocations for education; It stands for a reversal of the policies of commercialisation, communalisation and centralisation

STRENGTHEN FEDERALISM,

DEFEND RIGHTS OF STATES

The Modi government’s disregard of the constitutional principles of federalism is reflected in its dangerous policies of coercive centralisation at the expense of the rights of the states.  This period is marked by a relentless all-round attack on federalism in all spheres – political, fiscal, educational, social and cultural. Opposition ruled states are specifically targeted. Governors and Lt Governors regularly transgress all constitutional proprieties. In non-BJP ruled states, governors are seen to act as centres to sabotage and disturb the working of state governments. Several non-BJP state governments have been forced to appeal to the Supreme Court on these issues.

The Kerala LDF government has been targeted for financial strangulation by the centre as it seeks to implement alternative policies.

The union government continuously encroaches on states’ rights by legislating on subjects under the state and concurrent lists of the constitution.

In the cultural field, the autonomy of the state governments is constricted. The union government consciously promotes Hindi while denying equal status to all national languages listed in the 8th Schedule of the constitution.

Fiscal Federalism: The fiscal space for the states is being severely squeezed. The Modi government refused to extend the period of GST compensation to the states. States are being deprived of a fair share of centrally collected tax revenue. States were to receive a 42 per cent share, instead, what they get is around 32 per cent.

State governments are restricted from borrowings and the stipulations of the FRBM Act restrict the states’ capacities to raise resources.

The CPI(M) stands for the restoration of the constitutional rights of the states which have been severely diluted by the Modi government. The CPI(M) stands for devolution of 50 per cent of the total collection of central taxes to the states, including share of surcharges and cesses levied by centre. It stands for a Governor to be chosen out of a panel of three eminent persons proposed by the chief minister; for an end to policies which promote centralisation at the expense of the states.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Moving away from the constitutional guarantee of equality to all for realising the objective of social justice, the socially oppressed sections are subjected to greater injustices and discrimination.

The ten years of Modi rule have seen an all-out assault on the principles of social justice based on the Manuvadi approach of the BJP government. Instead of implementing the constitutional spirit for annihilation of the caste system, the Modi government has used cynical methods to promote narrow caste identities for political benefit while maintaining the hierarchies of the caste system. The huge backlog of vacancies for ST/SC  in government and public sector posts, is an indication of its duplicitous policy on reservations  for the most marginalised and oppressed sections. While the outsourcing and privatisation policies of the government have hugely reduced the number of jobs, the refusal to enact a law for reservations in the private sector has diluted this constitutional guarantee. Scholarships for ST/SC students have also seen huge arrears. Constitutional and legal rights for adivasis are being snatched away leading to displacement and destitution.

In BJP ruled states the atrocities and attacks have increased manifold against dalits. Adivasis are subjected to erosion of their rights due to the elimination of many of the constitutional and legal provisions including the critical role of the gramsabha. With the forests being commercialised and privatised, the displacements of adivasis has increased exponentially. With efforts to assimilate adivasis under a homogeneous Hindu identity, Christian adivasis  are increasingly being attacked in BJP ruled states.

The Modi government has betrayed women by linking the women’s reservation law with that of the census and delimitation, postponing it indefinitely. This is a big blow to women who would have rightly got one-third reservations in this election itself. Women are facing the brunt of the economic distress with loss of jobs and incomes, forcing them into debt for survival. In particular dalit and adivasi women suffer the triple burden due to  caste, gender and class. Sexual violence against women and children has sharply increased by 28 per cent during the ten years of Modi rule. Retrograde Manuvadi ideologies that promote patriarchal, communal and castiest practices are being actively promoted by the ruling party. The most dangerous trend has been the communalisation of processes of justice in sexual crimes as was shown in the Bilkis Bano case. In addition, the protection given to supporters of the BJP based on their powerful caste connections such as in the Hathras case and in the protection given to the criminal accused of serial sexual harassment of female wrestlers, has exposed the utter hypocrisy of the ruling regime.

The CPI(M) stands for a law for reservations in the private sector and for immediate filling of vacancies in reserved posts without dilution; for protection of constitutional and legal rights of adivasis and an end to cultural assimilation. In order to acquire proper data on the OBCs in the country it is necessary to conduct a caste census along with the 2021 general census that is overdue. It stands for the immediate implementation of one-third reservations for women; for strengthening processes of justice for women victims of crimes.

LEGALISING CORRUPTION

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been claiming that the BJP has provided corruption-free governance for the past ten years. He had also declared zero tolerance for corruption. However, the record of the BJP government is the exact opposite. The only difference is that corruption was legalised under the Modi regime and risen exponentially – whether it be through the electoral bonds scheme or PM CARES fund. 

Consequent to the Supreme Court verdict declaring electoral bonds as unconstitutional, the data on electoral bonds as to who subscribed to it and which party redeemed it, there is now crystal clear evidence. The BJP has received Rs. 8,252 crores through bonds, which is 50 per cent of the total amount of money subscribed through bonds. The BJP has raised this money from corporates through a quid pro quo, whereby contracts and clearances have been given in lieu of bribes through bonds. The other method has been extortion by using coercive action by Central  agencies like the ED, CBI and Income Tax department. Further, electoral bonds opened up avenues for large-scale money laundering. Many firms bought electoral bonds whose value is multiple times of the profits they made. All said and done, the BJP has been running a bribery-cum-extortion racket through anonymous electoral bonds. 

The CPI(M) was the only national party which refused to accept the electoral bonds scheme and did not receive any funding through the bonds.  It has successfully gone to the Supreme Court to challenge the bonds scheme. 

The BJP also got nearly 65 per cent of the Rs 7,726 crores non-electoral bond political funding by corporates between 2013 and 2023.

The CPI(M) stands for urgent electoral reforms to curb the use of money power in the electoral system. For this, the Party wants State funding of elections and a ban on corporate donations to political parties. Corporates must fund to strengthen democracy and such contributions must be credited in a State electoral fund and used for State funding.

JAMMU AND KASHMIR

One of the first Acts of the Modi government in 2019 was the abrogation of Article 370 and the dissolution of the state of Jammu and Kashmir converting it into two union territories. Along with it, Article 35 A of the Constitution was also abrogated. It thus, pushed through a longstanding Hindutva agenda of RSS of targeting the only Muslim majority state in India and abolishing the special status accorded by the Indian Constitution, as part of the Instrument of Accession. As this was being done, all political leaders in the state and various others were indiscriminately put under custody under draconian laws and severe restrictions like internet shutdown etc., were imposed.

Since then, in a series of moves the effort is being made to change the demographic character and composition of J&K, through the Delimitation Commission; eroding the domicile status of permanent residents of J&K and the erosion of land rights. The elections to the state assembly continue to be postponed. 

Despite tall claims of economic development and end to terrorism, official data shows an uptick in terror activities with 71 per cent increase in the arrest of terrorists and their supporters in the Jammu region. In the whole of J&K the number of terror attacks have been ranging between 150-125 annually between 2019 and 2022. Likewise, encounter incidents remained over a hundred annually over this period. The economic situation has deteriorated with unemployment estimated to be three times the national average. Apple growers and small business owners have been adversely affected.

SC Verdict: The verdict of the Supreme Court dismissing the challenges to the abrogation of Article 370 and dissolution of the State of J&K have serious consequences for the federal structure of our constitution. Negating the fact that the Instrument of Accession of J&K was conditional to retaining a special status contained in Article 370, the SC ruled that after accession J&K does not retain any element of sovereignty. The verdict has serious consequences for all states in the country where President’s rule can be imposed and its boundaries altered or statehood dissolved in the absence of an elected legislative assembly with the concurrence of the governor.

The CPI(M)’s continuing commitment to the autonomous status granted by Sec 370 of J&K is reflected in its using every fora to defend the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The CPI(M) stands for immediate elections to the State Assembly and also for the restoration of full statehood as a first step.

NORTH EAST

The ethnic conflict in Manipur continues since May 2023 leaving hundreds of people dead, hundreds of thousands displaced. The BJP state government and chief minister echoing the RSS propaganda of illegal immigrants flooding the North East and Assam are wholly responsible for the ethnic conflict with communal underpinnings, and largescale violence including brutal gangrapes. The central government simply refused to intervene and the deafening silence of the prime minister all these months shows the utter bankruptcy of the double engine rule. The central government has openly protected its own chief minister despite him being an important reason for the continuing conflict.

The Meitei-Kuki ethnic conflict has a danger of spreading to nearby states particularly, Mizoram and Meghalaya. The sharpening of polarisation across the North East, particularly in Assam has made the situation dangerously tense and incendiary. Being a border state with Myanmar and given the situation in that country, a very precarious and dangerous situation arises.

Developments in both J&K and in Manipur have serious implications for our national security.

FOREIGN POLICY

Abandonment of India’s independent foreign policy: The BJP government has totally surrendered to US strategic, political and security designs and to strengthen US imperialism’s designs for global hegemony. The most graphic evidence is the shameful stand of the Modi government in refusing to demand an unconditional ceasefire to stop the genocidal war against the people of Palestine. It has sided with the Zionist government backed by the US. Its defence ties with Israel and its arms trade is a black record for our traditional support to the struggle for a homeland by the Palestinian people. US imperialism continues to cement India as a subordinate ally in its strategic designs in the Indo-Pacific region. India has become a strategic defence partner signing agreements of strategic military cooperation. The QUAD has been converted into an active strategic and military alliance in the Indo-Pacific region. US-Israel-India axis is consolidating.

India has abandoned its traditional leadership role of the non-alignment movement. Since Modi became PM he did not attend a single NAM Summit. For the first time, the Indian PM went on a state visit to Israel without visiting Palestine.

These developments are having serious consequences for relations with our neighbours and India’s international standing.

The CPI(M) stands for a non-aligned foreign policy which best serves the interests of our own country. It stands for good relations with our neighbours while defending every aspect of our country’s security.

DEFEND INDIAN CONSTITUTION, DEMOCRACY

AND IMPROVE PEOPLE’S WELFARE

In this background it is imperative that every Indian patriot must strive to safeguard and strengthen India’s Constitutional order. Given the grievously deteriorating living conditions of the people the current policy direction of crony capitalism and the communal-corporate nexus must be reversed.

This requires a set of alternative pro-people policies that must be implemented. The assaults on our Constitutional order and the secular, democratic character of our republic have been mounted by the RSS/BJP using its control of the government and the State apparatus.

The defence of our Constitutional order and democracy can only be achieved by ensuring that the BJP is separated from controlling government and State power. Likewise, any alternate set of pro-people policies can only be implemented when the BJP is removed from controlling the government apparatus.

The alternative policies that the CPI(M) is placing before the people is detailed in the next section.

Hence, to safeguard the constitutional republic, to further strengthen it and to change the policy direction towards a radical people oriented one, it is imperative that the BJP and its allies are defeated in the forthcoming elections to the 18th Lok Sabha.

CPI(M) appeals to the Indian electorate to:

1. Defeat the BJP and its allies.
2. Increase the strength of the CPI(M) and the Left parties in the Lok Sabha.
3. Ensure that an alternative secular government is formed at the centre.

• Protect the secular principle and democratic rights enshrined in the constitution.
• Enforce the farmers’ right to sell their produce at a minimum support price, which is at least 50 per cent higher than the total cost of production.
• Statutory minimum wage for workers of not less than Rs. 26,000 per month; wages linked to consumer price index.
• Universal public distribution system to provide 10 kgs of foodgrains per individual – 5kgs free of cost and 5kgs at subsidised rates.
• Right to free health care; end private insurance led healthcare; public expenditure on health to be raised to 5 per cent of GDP.
• Immediately implement the legislation for one-third reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies without linking it to census and delimitation; take comprehensive steps to end violence against women and children.
• Scrap the National Education Policy 2020. Major expansion of public educational system – schools and higher education – with quality upgradation; public expenditure on education to be 6 per cent of GDP; end communalisation of education system and ensure its democratic character.
• Right to work as a Constitutional right; provision of unemployment allowance for the jobless.
• Old age pension with minimum monthly pension which is not less than half the minimum wage, or, Rs. 6,000 per month, whichever is higher, for all senior citizens.
• Halt privatisation of public sector enterprises and rollback privatisation in defence, energy, railways and basic services.
• Reservation in jobs and education in the private sector for SCs  STs, OBCs and the disabled.
• Raise taxes on rich and corporate profits; restore wealth tax for superrich and introduce inheritance tax; restore long term capital gains tax.
• Reform the electoral system by introduction of proportional representation with partial list system; State funding in kind for electoral expenses. 

• Measures to safeguard the independence/autonomy of institutions such as the higher judiciary, Election Commission of India and other constitutional bodies.
• Repeal the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), National Security Act (NSA) and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
• Replace the PMLA with suitable law to prevent misuse. The ED must be divested of its law-enforcement powers.
• A full-fledged review and revision of the three criminal codes to eliminate anti-democratic provisions and enhancement of police powers; protect right to dissent.
• Remove death penalty from the statutes.
• Enact legislation to ensure mandatory social auditing and accountability to evaluate the impact and performance of public programmes. This must cover all areas of governance and empower every citizen to hold government accountable to its mandate.
• Scrapping of the mandatory use of Aadhaar and biometrics for all social welfare schemes.

• Amend the Constitution to make parliamentary approval mandatory for any international treaty.

• People-oriented infrastructural planning and development, not for private corporations.
• Resisting the increasing control of international financial institutions and asset management companies over Indian infrastructural sectors.
• Rolling back of the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), which facilitates private players in long-term revenue collection in core infrastructural activities.
• Rolling back of the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP); stall and reverse the long-term gift-over of brownfield infrastructural assets to private corporations through various routes of NMP; repeal privatisation and weakening of public infrastructure through disinvestment, PPP, and various other routes.
• Repealing and reversing the National Land Monetisation Pipeline (NLMP); prevent the accumulation of huge, contiguous land parcels with unique rent collection capacity in the hands of private corporations.
• Promoting construction, operation, maintenance, and revenue realisation of public infrastructure (power, communications, railways, roads, ports, airports, etc.) only through government departments and public sectors.
• Reversing the operation and maintenance (O&M) of public infrastructure allotted to private players; putting an end to revenue extraction (tolls, tickets, or other charges) by private O&M agencies from public highways, railways, airports, gas or electricity lines, etc., which severely burden people; reinforcing public enterprises in these works.
• Reversing the policies promoting and establishing private monopolies in renewable energy sector, energy storage, and all other future energy resources; establishing government's decisive stake in the renewable sector to protect our country's energy sovereignty; devising a strong participatory mechanism to protect the livelihood and economic scope of the communities (especially coal workers) affected in the process of transitioning to renewable energy from fossil fuel.
• Ensuring affordable electricity at subsidized rates; repealing of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022; halting prepaid smart metering in the TOTEX model by private corporations; rollback privatization of public electricity sector; reintegration of all unbundled power utilities; cancellation of existing private licenses in the power sector; eradication of the virtual private power market and dynamic pricing.
• Restricting private monopolies in essential infrastructure sectors, including ports-to-power conglomerates, data storage and handling; building a strong public sector data infrastructure to secure Indian citizens' sovereign data and implementing policies to limit the free use of personal data by private corporations.
• Repealing the Telecommunications Bill, 2023; reversing pro-private telecom policies to encourage telecom and internet penetration in rural and remote areas via public sector; strengthening public sector telecom companies BSNL and MTNL by guaranteeing a level playing field and rapid roll-out of 4G and 5G services. Ensuring the right to internet; developing national self-reliance in communication equipment manufacturing.
• Massive government investment in rail infrastructure to ensure rail security, speed, and availability; reversing privatisation of railway stations, dedicated freight corridors, and goods and passenger trains; promoting indigenous technology and the manufacturing of railway rakes and equipment; assure affordability and service upgrades.
• Withdrawal of the landlord port model; revocation of the new stevedoring policy for cargo handling; revocation of outsourcing of major port hospitals under the PPP model. Modernise major ports.
• Developing warehousing corporation infrastructure to facilitate procurement of crops other than grains and primary edibles like fruits and vegetables; stop renting out infrastructure of the warehousing corporation to private monopolies

• Reversing the disastrous policies aimed to dismantle and destroy all PSUs through different administrative orders and guidelines; doing away with all DIPAM-initiated PSU privatisation efforts.
• Strengthening the public sector, especially in core and strategic areas, by withdrawing the huge burden of levy, allowing efficient reinvestment of profit for modernisation and upgradation, providing level playing field and access to resources, supporting weaker PSUs with fresh capital and updated technology, ensuring technology transfer in each and every import obligation, promoting greater autonomy, efficiency, and inter-enterprise coordination within the public sector.
• Introduction of a holistic long-term industrial policy, reinventing investment strategies and MoU conditionalities to ensure higher employment-investment ratio; bridging the gap between service and manufacturing by fostering complementary roles of the two to increase net productivity.
• Ensuring increased value addition and appropriation in our domestic segments of the Global Production Network executed through a tight export-import-investment policy; ensuring compliance of strict labour standards throughout the value chain of MNCs and TNCs.
• Restricting the increasing control of financial firms over non-financial ones by imposing a cap on equity investment and cross-ownership; introducing proactive lending policies from PSBs to support the financial needs of non-financial companies; promoting research and development and indigenous capacity enhancement; imposing a vigilant restriction on monopoly formation and cartelisation.
• Revival of labour-intensive traditional industries such as jute mills, plantations, textiles, leather, handicrafts, and coir, among others; formulation of stringent policies to protect domestic industries from international players; promotion and development of domestic and foreign markets for Indian products.
• Encouraging micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in labour-intensive sectors with adequate incentives, infrastructure support, and sufficient credit from public sector banks; increasing financial allocation to Cluster Development Projects (CDPs); strict restrictions on entry of private microfinance into the MSME sector and waiving loans of distressed low-income groups.
• Conducive strategy for increasing entrepreneurial activities through reinforcing communitarian institutions like SHGs, Cooperatives, etc; increasing subsidised loans to these units involved especially in home and traditional industries; supporting the development of cooperatives and consortiums.
• Prohibiting foreign direct investment in retail trade; regulating e-commerce and local corporate retailers through a licencing policy; and creating the government's own e-commerce platform to promote small producers and manufacturers.
• Introduction of public sector digital platform services to break the monopoly of global corporations like Amazon, Uber, Zomato, etc; ensuring systematic government support and protection for indigenous start-ups and cooperatives in the expanding digital economy.
• Proactive initiative to bring more IT jobs and technological growth to Tier-II and Tier-III cities without compromising workers' rights; boosting IT hardware and component production; introduction of state-owned IT companies to digitize all departments and their services; developing rules to regulate algorithms, AI/ML, and other emerging technologies with the goal of democratizing their benefits to the public.
• Progressively amending the SEZ Act and Rules to eliminate tax advantages and limit indiscriminate land use; ensuring strict implementation of labour laws in all SEZs.
• Critical reconsideration over IBC; resisting measures over siphoning of public funds through the PLI schemes; strict measures against unconditional loan waivers to big private corporations.
• Repealing the amendment in the MMDR Act framed to allow monopolized commercial mining of critical minerals like rare earth materials, lithium, etc., essential for future energy security; halting further incentivisation, liberalisation, and privatisation of the mineral sector, including crude oil exploration.
• Rolling back the dismantling of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and strengthen indigenous defence manufacturing units; reversal of private entry into the defense production industry; halt FDI inflows.
• Developing a holistic policy for Coal India Ltd (CIL) capacity augmentation and a comprehensive coal logistics plan; hand-over all the private allotted unexplored coal blocks to CIL; reducing the dependence on imported coal and judicial inquiry into the fraudulent coal import by private companies.

• Periodic wage revision for all Central PSU workers without insisting on any affordability condition.
• Setting up the 8th Central Pay Commission for central government employees and payment of unpaid Dearness Allowance/Dearness Relief dues from January 2020 to June 2021.

• Ensuring equal remuneration for women workers in all areas of work including home-based work; social security for working women in the unorganized sector, including maternity benefits, pension and health insurance; implementing paid maternity leave of 26 weeks, maternity benefit and crèche facilities and elderly care for all women workers.

• Workers to have active and effective participation in all Welfare Boards constituted for their welfare.

• Ensure comprehensive freedom from debt and loan waiver to all small, middle and distressed farmers and agricultural workers in rural India, covering both institutional and private debt owed to moneylenders.

• Implementing 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies immediately without linking it to census and delimitation.

• Putting in place a series of measures to prevent, curb and punish those responsible for the horrific increase in violence against women and children, which include:

• Accepting the Verma Committee recommendations which have been left out of the present amended law; changes in educational curricula to include subjects related to gender equality; steps to make public spaces safer for women; ensuring safe access to all public places for women with disability; increasing punishment for caste based crimes against Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe women; penalties on any personnel including police personnel who sabotage or delay cases; setting up of fast track courts; make marital rape an offence; safeguard existing Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code; support victims of sexual violence and acid attacks through a fully funded rehabilitation scheme especially for children who are victims of sexual violence; adequate budgetary allocations for implementation of the laws against domestic violence and against sexual harassment. Strict implementation of the PCPNDT Act (against sex determination tests and female foeticide) and the activisation of defunct monitoring committees.

• Enacting the following new legislations: a stand-alone law against so-called honour crimes; a law against trafficking of women and children; strengthening the law for maintenance of women and children including a scheme such as the one initiated by the erstwhile Left front government in Tripura providing an allowance for deserted women; special schemes for single women including widows and female headed families; a law to ensure linkages between SHGs and banking institutions and guarantee of subsidised interest rates of not more than 4 per cent with special concessions for SHGs of SC/ST women; protective legislation for domestic workers and for homebased workers; special schemes for female headed families.
• A code of conduct for all elected representatives in different spheres to adhere to standards of decency in public comments and discourse about women and against sexist and misogynist language which demeans and insults women.
• Increasing allocations for women in gender budgeting to at least forty per cent of allocations from the present claims of 30 per cent.

• Provision of adequate number of child friendly playgrounds in neighbourhoods.

• Enactment of a special Act for the prevention of caste, religious and gender based discrimination in educational institutions and work environments.
• Immediate conduct of a Caste Census as part of general census.
• Universal access to hostels and scholarships for all SC and ST students.
• Filling all backlogs in reserved seats and posts and in promotions through a special timebound recruitment drive.
• Implementation of reservations in all hitherto excluded sectors.
• Amendments to remove loopholes in the legislation for prevention of manual scavenging and a timebound rehabilitation scheme with adequate allocations.
• Regularisation of contract labour in safai services.
• A special drive with budgetary allocations to close the continuing gap between SC/STs and other communities in housing and civic facilities.
• Extending reservations to dalit Christian and Muslim communities.

• Withdrawal of National Forest Policy which advocates privatisation of forests and replacement with an appropriate policy protecting tribal rights.

• Removal of all amendments to Forest Conservation and Environment related rules and government circulars which dilute the role of gram sabhas in decision making powers regarding areas in their jurisdiction.

• Enhancement of scholarship for tribal students and time bound audit of all tribal hostel and upgrading of facilities.

• Amend the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 to address concerns raised by the community.
• Legal recognition and protection to same sex couples similar to marriage - ‘civil union’/‘same-sex-partnerships’, legislation/s on similar lines as Special Marriage Act, 1954 so that the partner can be listed as a dependent, for inheritance, alimony in case of divorce etc.
• A comprehensive anti-discriminatory bill covering LGBTQ+.
• Reservation in education institutions; ensuring horizontal reservation in employment.
• Ensuring crimes against LGBTQ+ persons are treated on par with crimes against non-LGBTQ+ persons.
• Measures to address bullying, violence and harassment of gender non-conforming and LGBTQ+ students, staff and teachers in educational spaces; enforcement of UGC anti-ragging policy amendment (2016) that addresses ragging based on sexual orientation and gender identity, ensuring accessible and safe bathrooms for trans, intersex and gender non-conforming students, staff and faculty.
• Sex change surgeries of LGBTQI should not be done without their informed consent.

• Recognition of the issues of persons with disabilities as cross-sectoral; redesigning various programmes and schemes with the objective of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities  Act, 2016 (RPD Act).
• Introduction of disability budgeting in line with gender budgeting; 5 per cent allocations across ministries be earmarked for the disabled; enhanced allocations to be made for fulfilling the various mandates of the RPD Act and also for implementation of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017.
• Comply with RPD Act mandated provisions on accessibility.
• Removal of GST on aids and appliances.
• Simplification of the certification procedure, speedy certification and ensuring the universal validity of UDID cards.
• Extending reservations in education and employment to the private sector; enforcing the mandate of inclusive education.
• Uniform disability pension of a minimum of Rs 6000/- linked with the  minimum wages/cost of living in the state; an equivalent amount be given to caregivers by introducing a caregiver allowance; AAY cards be provided to all disabled; free and universal health coverage for all disabled.
• Supporting women with disabilities for livelihood and housing as well as for exercising sexual and reproductive rights.
• Amending Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution to include ‘disability’ as a ground on which discrimination is prohibited; harmonising all laws in consonance with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

• Steps to remove communal content in education and text books. Ensure no vice-chancellors or key personnel in State funded institutions have anti-secular views.
• Academic excellence and professional competence will be the sole criteria for all appointments to bodies like Universities, the Indian Council for Historical Research, Indian Council for Social Science Research, University Grants Commission, National Council for Educational Research and Training, etc. A review committee of experts will be set up to reverse the communalisation of syllabus.
• Establishing a Common School Education System; stop closure or merger of government schools; upgrade government schools on the Kerala model; bring down student ratio to 20:1
• Implementing the Right to Education Act to provide free and compulsory elementary education; amending the RTE to institutionalise the concept of neighborhood schooling, extending it beyond the elementary level and providing free education for all continuing students; ensuring every school is RTE compliant.
• Expanding secondary education to reduce dropouts and making it universal; improving quality of education and infrastructure in SSA schools, allowing flexibility of rules, timing and other aspects to ensure retention of girl students and pupils in backward areas and for otherwise marginalised groups.
• Set-up Gender Sensitisation Committees Against Sexual Harassment in university and college campuses.
• Enacting legislation to regulate fees, admissions and curricula in private educational institutions.
• No FDI in higher education.
• Formulating scientific, progressive and democratic curriculum and syllabi at all levels of education in a way that recognizes India’s social and cultural diversity.
• Regularise teachers currently employed as contract or para teachers.
• Ensuring democratic rights of students, teachers and non-teaching staff in all educational institutions; students’ union elections to be made mandatory in all higher educational institutions.
• Stop attacks on the autonomy of higher education institutions.
• Enhance public funding for higher education.
• Reinstate overseas fellowship for students from the marginalised communities.
• Enact Rohit Act to provide guidance and help to students from the dalit and adivasi communities; mental health camps and accessible helplines for students.

• Retain health services as a state subject with strong emphasis on federalism.

• Scrap the government-funded pmjay/ayushman bharat health insurance scheme and replace it with a public-centred universal health care system.

• Ensure right-based access to comprehensive treatment and care of persons with mental illness through integration of the revised District Mental Health Programme with the National Health Mission.
• Adopt a people-centred, rational pharmaceutical policy with effective cost-based price controls, elimination of irrational and hazardous formulations, and a comprehensive generic medicines policy covering labeling, prescription and availability at all retail outlets; ensure availability of essential drugs free of cost at all public health care facilities.

• Special packages to support labour-intensive industries in creating jobs.
• Check unemployment through policies encouraging labour intensive establishments; link financial assistance/incentives/concessions to employers with employment generation in the concerned establishments.
• Fill up all vacant posts in government departments; lift the ban on recruitment and 3 per cent annual surrender of government posts; ensure the filling of all backlog posts.

Science and Technology (S&T)

 Enhance public funding of indigenous research in S&T to at least 2 per cent of GDP, with due importance to basic research

• Strengthen the university system in research and development (R&D); increase the number of research fellowships; increase number of faculty research positions in institutes; increase quality and quantity of PhDs.
• Decentralise systems and processes for research funding; scrap the highly centralized National Research Foundation (NRF) set up under the NEP.
• Review decision to close down many government-funded S&T Institutions; resume government support for a restructured Indian Science Congress 
• Earmark funds for state-level initiatives for S&T interventions to tackle peoples problems e.g. drought, water resource management, rural livelihoods, issues faced by marginalised communities

• Provide requisite mission-mode R&D funding for identified sectors of the ‘4th Industrial Revolution’ such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), bio and nano-technology etc; also focus on agricultural research to break monopolies of MNCs and enable climate-resilient agriculture/horticulture.

• Take systematic measures to increase participation of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) research and jobs; encourage academic freedom and culture of research towards reversing brain drain.
• Regulate AI, genetic engineering, data-mining and IT-based surveillance so as to ensure public good.

• Promote scientific temper, spirit of inquiry and reform as directed by the Constitution; revive Vigyan Prasar with an independent advisory body and mandate for science popularisation and cultivation of scientific temper.

• Promote free and open source software (FOSS) and other new technologies, free from monopoly ownership through copyrights or patents; “knowledge commons” to be promoted across disciplines eg  like biotechnology, AI and drug discovery.
• Recognise digital infrastructure as public infrastructure to be used for public good.
• Invest in public communication networks and free knowledge access to scientific and other academic publications without copyright barriers; mandate all public funded research to be made accessible to all.

Surveillance and Privacy Issues

• Stop all forms of digital surveillance by State agencies without explicit and specific warrants and under strict judicial supervision; prevent use of malware, hacking or other intrusive technologies such as Pegasus to gain control over citizens’ phones, computers and other digital devices.
• Scrap the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (2023), which is meant to cement digital authoritarianism by giving State agencies broad powers of surveillance over citizens and also big businesses a free hand to use citizens’ data for their own profits.
• Introduce new legislation to give a proper justiciable framework for the Supreme Court's Puttuswamy judgement on privacy as a fundamental right; also enact new legislation to create an independent constitutional authority to oversee violations by government as well as private businesses of citizens’ right to privacy.
• Strengthen the Competition Commission of India to be able to effectively curb and regulate the power of telecom and digital monopolies.
• Roll back the draconian provisions of the Telecommunication Act 2023 related to surveillance and interception, internet shutdowns, weakening of encrypted services, and KYC requirements of social media users.
• Roll back the draconian IT Amendment Rules (2023) which grants the government total censorship powers by providing for the establishment of a fact check unit, established at the sole discretion of the union government, and aimed at attacking online criticism.

 Culture and Media

• Steps to control the spread of fake news and act on those groups and individuals promoting fake news.

• Protecting individual rights and freedoms and for the review and reform of all provisions that place unreasonable restrictions constraints on freedom of speech, expression and individual rights.

• ·Amend ‘the cec and other ecs (appointment, conditions of service and term of office) act’, 2023 to provide for members of the ec to be appointed by the president on the advice of a committee consisting of the prime minister, the leader of the opposition and chief justice of supreme court.