24th Party Congress of the CPI(M) Resolutions
Withdraw Draft National Policy Framework on
Agricultural Marketing
THE 24th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is deeply concerned about the draft “National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing (NPFAM)”, circulated by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. This draft reveals the conspiracy of the RSS-BJP-led union government to sacrifice farmers' interests and maximise corporate profits. It is a subterfuge to smuggle in the three hated and repealed Farm Laws through the back door.
Instead of addressing any of the serious demands raised by the fighting farmers’ movement like legalising a remunerative MSP, loan waiver, comprehensive crop insurance, increasing public investment in agriculture, pro-farmer credit facilities etc., the central government has brought in this retrograde draft. While the draft pays lip service to the fact that agricultural marketing is a state subject under Article 246 of the Constitution, the spirit of the draft is to attack federalism and the power of the state governments, abolish state-supported market infrastructure, and erode the role of the APMCs, leaving small and medium farmers highly vulnerable to the exploitation by private trading cartels.
The major suggested reforms in the draft include the establishment of private wholesale markets, direct farm gate purchases by corporate processors and exporters, replacement of traditional market yards with corporate-controlled warehouses and silos, and introduction of a unified state-wide market fee and trading license system. The draft proposes that big corporations can purchase produce directly from farmers, bypassing APMC market yards. Big business houses, including Reliance and Adani, have already constructed extensive warehouse infrastructure and private railway networks in Sirsa, Haryana and Ludhiana, Punjab.
The corporate lobby and international finance capital are virulently against MSP because their strategy has always been to procure agricultural produce at the cheapest rate, do value addition, brand and market it, and make exorbitant profits. This way, big business is exploiting both farmers as well as consumers. In the name of market efficiency, the centre is creating a conducive atmosphere for the corporate loot of agriculture. It is thus perpetuating peasant suicides and indebtedness, and facilitating pauperisation of the peasantry.
The draft is hell-bent on the need for corporatisation of agriculture; it is seen as the only way to “reform” agriculture. For instance, the draft visualises the much-hyped Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) scheme, a pet project of Modi, as a tool for furthering corporate penetration. This is by creating a conducive atmosphere for cluster-based FPOs to enter contract farming arrangements with big business houses operating in agriculture. The class interest behind the great eagerness shown by corporate groups like CII and FICCI in promoting the FPO scheme is very clear.
The stranglehold of big business houses is also evident in the suggestions for deepening financialisation via futures and option markets. This will also permit the MNC’s and international finance capital to dominate the domestic food producing agriculture and industry, jeopardising the food security of the people of India.
Stiff resistance to the above draft has begun. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) mobilised tens of thousands of farmers in recent nationwide protests burning the draft. Two massive kisan mahapanchayats in Haryana and Punjab together mobilised over 75,000 farmers.
The 24th Congress of the CPI(M) calls upon all its units to further intensify the struggle until the pro-corporate and anti-farmer NPFAM is withdrawn.
Against the Deep-Sea Mining Policy of Government of India
The 24th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) condemns the deep-sea mining policy of the Government of India for endangering the livelihood of millions of fisher folk, privatizing the natural resources to corporate interests, destabilizing the delicate marine eco system, and abridging the interests of the state governments.
The Offshore Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act of 2002, as amended in 2023 opens deep-sea mining and exploration to the plunder of private corporates. Before the recent amendment offshore mining required joint inspections by the GSI, the Indian Bureau of Mines, and the Atomic Minerals Directorate. However, the amended Act allows private companies to participate in exploration as well, raising concerns about potential unchecked exploitation and a lack of transparency.
The royalties from mining mineral resources are entirely assigned to the central government. Deep-sea mining may also threaten the viability of the public sector rare minerals units in Kerala that are dependent upon the mineral sands washed up on the shores.
Environmentalists point out that offshore mining creates sediment plumes and releases toxic wastewater containing heavy metals, posing long-term risks to marine life, and ecosystems reliant on marine resources. It may destabilize eco systems, weaken natural defenses against tsunamis, cyclones, erosion, and disrupt sediment dynamics, threatening aquatic habitats. Disturbing seafloor eco systems could release stored carbon, accelerating climate change by increasing atmospheric CO2 levels contributing to global warming.
The depletion of fisheries resources is a major livelihood challenge to Indian fishers and deep-sea mining will definitely aggravate the problem. For example, the sand blocks included for mining in the first phase of deep-sea mining happen to be on Kollam Banks, one of the richest fisheries resource belts in the Indian seas. All fisher folk irrespective of the political divide have come out against the proposal. The Kerala legislature has passed a unanimous resolution against the sea sand mining programme.
This action is a disaster waiting to unfold, and the 24th Congress of the CPI(M) demands that the central government abandon this initiative immediately.
Raise Voice for Independence, Integrity and Transparency
of the Election Commission, Ensure Level Playing Field in Elections
The 24th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses grave concern and anguish over the opaque and unconstitutional manner in which elections have been conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the past decade. The erosion of autonomy, contempt shown for the political opposition, and utter brazenness with which election laws, rules and manuals have been manipulated have turned India’s election process, always loaded in favour of parties with money power, into a complete farce.
The present BJP regime, in flagrant violation of the Supreme Court’s express directive in November 2023 to ensure independence in appointment of the Election Commissioners, hastily enacted a law changing the selection process by excluding the Chief Justice of India, with two of the three members of the selection committee being members of the ruling cabinet.
The ECI has lost the confidence of a fair section of the Indian people. In April 2024, a survey conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) revealed, shockingly, that only 28 per cent of Indians today retained any trust or confidence in the ECI.
The manner and extent to which India’s election system has been eroded is complex and involves manipulations at multiple levels. These issues have been addressed rigorously by several experts and citizens groups. They essentially involve the utterly non-transparent manner of the functioning of the ECI when it comes to: a) Non-release of Voter Data including Voter lists past and present, b) Non-release of 17-C and 17-A forms, Video Recordings and Index Cards, mandated under Election Law and ECI Manuals; c) Manipulation of Voter Lists through spurious additions and deletions. A significant question regarding the ECI’s conduct pertains to the credibility of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the ECI’s supervision of the electoral process.
A major breach of bipartisan conduct in elections was first evident in violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and the Representation of People’s Act in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the 2017 state elections of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, and most sharply during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Several complaints against prominent campaigners of the ruling party, including the Prime Minister, Home Minister, UP Chief Minister and others for making openly communal appeals and violating the MCC were made only to be ignored, exposing the ECI’s clearly partisan approach. The ECI failed to take action against the blatant use of government resources to further the partisan interests of the BJP. Today, even the most basic constitutional rights of the political opposition are being brazenly snatched away with even Voters lists with and without the latest revisions, being denied to political contestants and citizens. Most recently, the issue of duplicate EPIC cards has also surfaced.
Soon after the 2024 Parliamentary elections, citizens’ groups published a substantiated report (Vote for Democracy - VFD) presenting data that suggested that in at least 79 Lok Sabha constituencies across the country the “people’s mandate” had not been reflected in the results: significantly, the total hike in absolute number of votes cumulatively for all the phases between the turnout figures reported at 7-8 PM and final turnout figures extrapolated from the available figures of the Percentage of Polled Votes, supplied by the ECI, was close to 5 crore votes, or 4,65,46,885 to be precise. Detailed state-wise mathematical and statistical calculations by experts say that it is likely that these spurious votes benefited the NDA/BJP coalition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in around 79 seats, determining who/which dispensation came to power. The ECI has refused to give any reasons for this unexplained hike in votes.
On the other hand, the overall indication from some rigorous constituency-wise surveys is that areas with a higher share of voters from religious and caste groups who were less likely to vote for the BJP saw disproportionate deletions. Additionally, the inclusion of new voters needs further and comprehensive scrutiny to identify bogus voters.
Independent studies into the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha Elections 2024 reveal a shocking increase in Voter ‘Registration’ in the seven months between the Lok Sabha polls in April 2024 and the Vidhan Sabha polls in November 2024, which was a staggering 40,81,229. This makes the average monthly registration per month on an average (April 2024-November 2024) at 5,83,032; as against this, the average voter registration per month in the five-year period between 2019-2024 has been only 71,116, and in the previous five years from 2014-2019 only 1,31,302. This substantiates claims that these additions were done with an intent to bolster the ruling BJP-led combine’s votes. To date, despite several demands, documentation of these additions has not been provided.
In addition, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Assam have seen the questionable and partisan behaviour of Returning Officers (ROs) conducting polls, with documented complaints having come in from 56 constituencies. Worse still has been the use of the state police machinery to prevent voters from marginalized sections exercising their franchise.
Yet another serious feature was the public display of a brazen corporate-BJP nexus through the unconstitutional electoral bonds scheme introduced in 2017, and finally struck down by the Supreme Court of India in early 2024. Though the ruling BJP received an overwhelming share of the funds—approximately Rs 8,500 crore—through electoral bonds over five years, creating an uneven playing field, the party has not been compelled to either return this money acquired in an illegitimate way, nor made to explain its expenditure. We also recall our Party’s significant role in challenging the electoral bonds in the apex court.
The latest move by the ECI, to link the EPIC Card with the Aadhaar card also needs to be rigorously opposed, since it in effect places control of the election process - additions and deletions of voters - squarely in the hands of the UIDAI, controlled by the Union Government. Besides, while the EPIC card is proof of citizenship, AADHAAR is merely a location of identity.
All these disturbing developments require that we commit the Party to a mass people’s movement to demand accountability from the ECI and a return to transparency during polls. Accountability of the ECI must be ensured, and all data must be consistently and transparently made available to the political opposition and to all Indian citizens.
The 24th Congress of the CPI(M) therefore urgently resolves to intensify efforts to ensure that malpractices in the electoral system are exposed, and every Indian voter is encouraged to cast her/his vote, without fear or favour. We commit ourselves to the campaign to ensure the independent and transparent functioning of the ECI and to restore a level playing field in elections. This is an essential and non-negotiable prerequisite for protecting political democracy in the country.
Restore Full Statehood and Democracy in Jammu & Kashmir
THE unconstitutional and disastrous decisions of August 5, 2019 – nullifying Articles 370 and 35A – along with a series of arbitrary legislations and humiliating actions, have dismembered and downgraded the historic state of Jammu & Kashmir. The snatching away of statehood and bifurcation of the state into two union territories has created a deep political void and intensified the sense of uncertainty and alienation among its people.
Civil liberties, human rights, and democratic freedoms continue to be eroded. Arbitrary arrests under draconian laws like the UAPA and PSA have become a disturbing norm. Hundreds of political activists and journalists remain incarcerated inside and outside Jammu & Kashmir. Youth are being denied job opportunities under the pretext of security verification, while passports are withheld on flimsy grounds.
Jammu and Kashmir was enjoying special rights of protection of land and jobs since Maharaja Hari Singh’s rule when non-residents of this region were not allowed to purchase land and get jobs. There are numerous provisions of this nature which give such rights to the people in certain other states as well. But these protections for land and employment for permanent residents of J&K were arbitrarily stripped away, exacerbating insecurity among the populace.
The state's economy continues to deteriorate, with the grand promises of development, investment, and job creation proving hollow. Daily-wage workers face irregular payments, and key sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, handicrafts, and transport are in deep crisis. Apple growers, in particular, are grappling with mounting challenges. There remains a lack of legal guarantees like Minimum Support Price (MSP).
Since August 2019, executive orders, such as changes to domicile laws, restrictions on media, and the intimidation of government employees, have become commonplace. Despite these oppressive measures, the recent Assembly elections held after a gap of seven years saw a significant turnout, with people participating in large numbers. The BJP's attempts to polarise the state along communal and regional lines, and to manipulate the outcome using money power and proxies, failed. The people have clearly rejected the BJP-led government's policies and have delivered a verdict against its unconstitutional assault on J&K on August 5, 2019, as well as the ruthless suppression that followed.
Yet, instead of respecting this democratic verdict, the BJP-led central government continues to undermine it. Despite commitments made by the Government of India, both in Parliament and in the Supreme Court, regarding the restoration of statehood, the BJP and its appointed Lieutenant Governor are obstructing the functioning of the Omar Abdullah government. The recent large number of transfers of J&K cadre officials have further fuelled anxiety and undermined the authority of the elected legislature.
Hence the 24th Party Congress demands:
Immediate granting of full statehood to Jammu & Kashmir as a step towards restoration of special status.
Protection of land and job rights.
Restoration of democratic, civil, and trade union rights.
Release of political detenues and journalists and ensuring freedom of the press.
End to indiscriminate arrests of youth on baseless charges.
We appeal to all secular and democratic forces to stand in defence of the legitimate and constitutional rights of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
or reload the browser
