CLEAR evidence of the tacit deal between the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the BJP in Kerala has surfaced to the acute embarrassment of both the parties. What is even more surprising is that a few top BJP leaders themselves have spilled the beans.First to come out with a ‘candid confession’ about the Congress-BJP deal was none other than the senior-most BJP leader in Kerala and the lone BJP MLA in the outgoing Kerala Assembly, O Rajagopal.
THE BJP-led central government's pushing of four amendments to the NCT Delhi Act 1991, first in Lok Sabha and then in Rajya Sabha, is not only a murder of democracy, but is a brute attack on India's federal structure, using the parliamentary majority.The RSS-BJP combine has made repeated such decisions during its last two regimes that have pushed our federal structure into a dilapidated structure. The Planning Commission was dismantled immediately after the formation of NDA government in 2014 and later the GST was forcefully implemented.
THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions(CITU), in a statement issued on April 1, condemned the hasty move of the central government in announcing a sharp reduction in all small savings instruments including Public Provident Fund (PPF), Kisan Vikas Patra and other term deposits through a notification. CITU also noted the hurried announcement, later by the finance ministry saying that such announcement on interest rate cut has been done by mistake ‘due to oversight’ with a clear intent to avoid criticism in the run-up to assembly elections.
AT the end of the third phase of polling, it can be said that Sanjukta Morcha is on the march. The malicious and scandalous allegations that Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have been hurling at each other for the past few months, have nettled the ordinary people, who have been fighting a grim battle for survival for the last one year, ever since the unplanned lockdown was shoved down their throat. Neither the TMC nor the BJP has addressed any of the burning issues plaguing the daily lives of the working class.
The draft notification issued by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, on March 15, 2021 will burden all types of the commercial vehicle as well the private motor vehicle owners. When the entire road transport industry is in serious crisis, the implementation of the policy will create havoc.
THE All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 5, ahead of the nation-wide protest call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and made six specific demands apart from their demand to repeal the anti-farmer farm bills.
WITH the second wave of the Covid-19 infection unfolding, India is facing a calamitous situation. April 4 saw the breeching of the 100,000 mark (one lakh) in daily cases with 103,709 cases recorded.
THE union budget presented in parliament on February 1, 2021 announced a long-promised and much-awaited vehicle scrappage policy. Subsequently, the minister for road transport and highways (MoRTH) provided some additional details, although the final policy document was not made available in the public domain on or after February 15 as he promised.
CAMPAIGN for the April 6 Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections is going on in full swing. Though the BJP-led government was in favour of running the council through an administrator, it was compelled to hold election following a high court order. Left Front leaders, in their campaign, have been highlighting the sincere and commendable performance of the Left-controlled ADC Council despite total noncooperation of the state government, particularly in providing relief to the destitute people during the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
THE Covid-19 crisis has seen a very different response from the advanced countries compared to the third world countries. The former have unrolled substantial fiscal packages for rescue and recovery while the latter have been trapped in fiscal austerity. Among third world countries, India’s fiscal package has been perhaps the most niggardly, amounting to no more than one per cent of GDP; but even other third world countries have not fared all that much better.