AS we go to the press, the seventh phase of the 16th general elections has been completed out of this marathon nine-phase election. This phase has been marked by widespread violence, terror and rigging indulged by the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. Complaints in this regard have been registered with the Election Commission with the demands for a re-poll under the proper supervision and scrutiny of the central forces. We shall have to wait for the Election Commission to take the appropriate decisions.
A delegation comprising of CPI(M) Polit Bureau members Sitaram Yechury and S Ramachandran Pillai met the Election Commission of India and submitted the following memorandum on the widespread rigging in the third phase of elections in West Bengal on April 30, 2014.THERE has been large-scale rigging and violence in the elections to the 16th Lok Sabha held in West Bengal on April 30, 2014. This has completely distorted the process of conducting free and fair polls.
THE third phase of voting in West Bengal exposed the true face of the ruling party as hundreds of booths were captured in nine parliamentary constituencies that went to polls on April 30.
The following is the statement issued by the CPI(M) AP Committee on April 24, 2012:
IT is unfortunate the High Court of Andhra Pradesh gave its judgement to quash the sentences granted to the culprits by the Special Court in the Chundur Dalit Massacre case. The Communist Party of India (Marxist), AP Committee demands the government to appeal the case in the Supreme Court.
The ninth congress of the Workers' Party of Bangladesh was held on April 24-27 at Rajasahi. S Ramachandran Pillai, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and Gautam Das, CPI(M) Tripura secretariat member attended the Congress as fraternal delegates. Below we reproduce the text of the CPI(M) greetings to the congress. DEAR Comrades, The Communist Party of India (Marxist) greets the 9th Congress of the Workers' Party of Bangladesh and wishes the Congress all success.I am confident that the deliberations you have in this Congress will lead to the further strengthening of the Party.
WITH the demise of Comrade K L Bajaj on April 18, 2014, the Left and the working class movement in Maharashtra have lost one of their stalwarts. For the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, the loss of Comrade K L Bajaj is irreparable. At the time of his death at the age of 79, Bajaj was a member of the CPI(M) Central Committee and the Maharashtra state secretariat, and was the vice president of the CITU at both the national and the state level. He was one of the convenors of the Trade Union Joint Action Committee (TUJAC) in Maharashtra.
THE secretariat of the Kerala state committee of the CPI(M) in a statement issued on April 17 has said that the rule of law has collapsed in Kerala under the UDF rule and mafia dons have taken over the role of the police. Even people are not safe in their homes. In the 32 month long of UDF rule, over 13.58 lakh crimes have been registered in the state. Under the LDF rule, the state was ranked number one crime free state. Under the UDF rule, political murders have become the order of the day in Kerala. Last week has seen a number of murders in different parts of the state.
THE All India Democratic Women’s Association in a statement issued on April 11 strongly condemned the Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh for trivializing the serious crime of rape and gang rape in a public meeting at Moradabad on April 10, where he openly asked for condoning such heinous acts as momentary lapses.
LEFT Front chairman Biman Basu addressing a press conference on April 22 alleged that Mamata Banerjee is impeding peaceful election process by her continuous provocative and incendiary speeches. He further added that Trinamool Congress and its leader Mamata Banerjee are involved in a deep conspiracy to subvert the election process in West Bengal.
Biman Basu said chief minister Mamata Banerjee is ruining the prestige of West Bengal by her ungainly speeches at public gatherings.
THE division of Andhra Pradesh into two states -- Telangana and Andhra Pradesh -- will happen formally on June 2. Therefore elections to state assembly and Lok Sabha are taking place in the undivided state of Andhra Pradesh itself. But that is only technical in sense. Politically the electoral scene is markedly different in both the regions. If Congress party is vying for power in Telangana region, it is battling for life in Seemandhra region (the area comprising residual Andhra Pradesh), hardly able to find candidates to field on its behalf.