THE time has come to turn around and resist. Padayatras (foot marches) are being organised in every district of West Bengal as part of statewide demonstrations called by state units of AIKS, AIAWU and CITU. The marches are being held across rural areas in each district from November 1. They will reach every booth highlighting the demands of the people of the village. The corruption of the ruling party and government will be the focus of the campaign.

THE founding all India conference of the Coffee Farmers Federation of India (CFFI), held on October 26-27, 2022 at Vellamunda, Wayanad authored a new chapter in the crop wise mobilisation of Indian peasantry. CFFI, affiliated to All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) is a federation of coffee farmers associations in major coffee producing states of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

THE 20th state conference of Students’ Federation of India (SFI) in Tripura was held on October 17-18, 2022 at Agartala. The open session, held on October 17 in the auditorium of Town Hall, was attended by a house full of participants. Apart from the delegates coming from different parts of the state, there were representatives from youth, teachers and other mass organisations.The conference started with hoisting of SFI flag and paying floral tributes to the martyrs. The open session was addressed by former students’ leader and ex-minister Ratan Bhowmik, who is presently an MLA.

THE massive rally held at Vivekananda Maidan (Astabol Ground) in Agartala town on October 21, at the call of the CPI(M), threw a challenge to the authoritarian BJP rule in the state.The rally was presided over by Aghore Debbarma, Central Committee member of the Party and it was addressed by CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Polit Bureau member Manik Sarkar and CPI(M) state secretary and Central Committee member Jitendra Chaudhury. BJP’S PLOT TO FOIL THE RALLYBJP used its government machinery both in the state and at the centre, leaving no stone untu

The Kerala governor, Arif Mohammad Khan, has asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to remove Finance Minister K N Balagopal, on the grounds that he made a speech that was “seditious”. We publish excerpts of the speech as reported in The Hindu (dated October 27). It shows the absurdity of the governor’s charge. Below we publish excerpts of the speech of K N Balagopal at a students’ meeting in University of Kerala, on October 19, 2022.“KERALA has benefited a lot by the democratisation of education. My experience as a student is mostly from Kerala University.