EVOKING strong regional, chauvinist and communal feelings and harping on Gujarati Modi for PM, the BJP swept all the 26 Lok Sabha seats from Gujarat in 2014. The main opposition, the Congress party, came a cropper. The BJP had polled 60.11 per cent of the polled votes as against 33.45 of the Congress. Three years later, in the contest for the assembly, things had changed. The BJP which had pompously set a target of 150 failed to reach the 100 mark, let alone retain the 115 seats it won in 2012.

WHILE the media in Bengal is desperate to frame a Modi-Mamata binary, the Left parties are breaking new grounds with intensive campaign. As the campaign gained momentum, it is amply clear that there is deep resentment, even anger, against TMC government amongst the people. The eight years of stagnation of economy, deep agricultural crisis, lack of jobs and loot by ruling class leaders at every level has sharpened anti-TMC mood.

TAMIL Nadu police, last week, denied permission for the release of booklets on Rafale scam and other issues exposing the BJP government and seized copies of the booklets, causing the ire of the general public, progressive writers and journalists.As part of the election campaign for Secular Progressive Front in Tamil Nadu, Bharathi Puthakalayam, a Chennai-based publisher, brought out booklets exposing the Modi government, one of which was a 48-page booklet in Tamil titled ‘Rafale: The Scam That Shook the Nation’, which explains the secret deal enacted by Modi, in a lucid manner.Eminent journ

THE primary aim of the CPI(M) in the April-May parliamentary election is to defeat the BJP and its allies, and the Congress must decide what its priority is, party general secretary Sitaram Yechury told a ‘Meet the Press’ event in Thiruvananthapuram on March 31 in response to a question on the candidature of Congress president Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad in Kerala.In Kerala, traditionally the political contest is between the CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF. The BJP is not a major force in the state.

ELECTION campaign for the CPI(M) candidates has gained momentum in both the  seats of Tripura despite the ruling party continuing its terror tactics.  CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and leader of opposition, Manik Sarkar, addressed two public meetings on April 1-2  in Sonamurra and Agartala in support of Sankar Prasad Datta.  Both the meetings were well attended.