The BJP-led government at the Centre has started counting its last days, CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby said on August 25, citing the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan following intense student protests in Delhi and the BJP’s defeat in the Bankipur Assembly by-election in Bihar. Speaking to the media after arriving at Agartala airport, Baby said the developments indicated growing public opposition to the BJP and a resurgence of the Left movement across the country.

OUT of the 3,003 PESA mobilisers in Maharashtra, 2,002 were facing the grave threat of losing their jobs due to a slash in funding by the Central Government. PESA is the short form for the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, adopted by Parliament in 1996.

The CPI(M) staged a major protest in Agartala on August 17 against abnormally high electricity bills, steep tariff increases and the forced installation of smart meters, warning the Tripura government that people would not tolerate the use of technology to mislead or exploit consumers.

The so-called golden period of almost two and half decades of BJP-JD(U) rule has left the state bankrupt. The failure of the government to pay salaries to government employees and teachers on time and fulfill its social security responsibilities is being raised in different forums. Even the meagre amount of 1000 rupees for senior citizens is not being paid on time.

The agreement reached between the Jharkhand government and the students protesting over the recruitments done by Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) issue is welcome. The cancellation of the JSSC-CGL (Combined Graduate Level) and examinations conducted by the private outsourcing agency TSR Data Processing Private Limited (TDPL), along with the decision to investigate irregularities in recruitments made since 2014, is a significant achievement of the sustained student movement.