THE country has entered into the electoral battle for the 17th general elections. This is not an ordinary election where the ruling party of the day is judged on the basis of its delivery of its promises made at the time of the last general elections alone. The balance sheet of its betrayals is often the main issue of electoral discourse. These elections, however, are the most crucial one in the history of independent India. Why is it so?
THE HONEYMOON IS OVERON March 9, the BJP-IPFT coalition government in Tripura started its second year in office. The government led by Biplab Kumar Deb and 8 of his colleagues in the cabinet had taken oath of office and secrecy in presence of PM Modi. As is the political practice in our country the first six months of a newly elected government is the honeymoon period when the new political executives remain busy in receiving congratulations and felicitations and getting adapted to the nuances of running the government.
ON March 12, Left Front announced the names of candidates for the two Lok Sabha seats of Tripura. Shankar Prasad Datta, sitting MP, member of CPI(M) state committee and general secretary of CITU Tripura state committee, will again contest from Tripura West Constituency, while Jitendra Choudhury, CPI(M) central committee member and chief whip of CPI(M) in Lok Sabha will contest again from the East Tripura (ST) reserved seat.
THE CPI(M) Telangana state committee has condemned the recent lathicharge on turmeric and red jowar farmers of Armoor and Nizamabad. The farmers were headed towards the state capital to protest against lack of minimum support price (MSP) as per the norms. Stating that violence could not solve any problem, CPI(M) demanded support price for red jowar and turmeric in addition to establishing a Turmeric Board soon.
TAMIL NADU, one of the leading developed states in the country is suffering in recent times under the indifferent and vindictive attitude of the central government led by the communal BJP denying the hard-earned rights of the state all along. On its part, the corrupt AIADMK government in the state had no qualms in mortgaging those rights of people just to save their skins.
CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on March 11, 2019IT is perplexing how the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir is good for the conduct of the Lok Sabha elections and not for the assembly elections which are also due. Currently, Jammu and Kashmir is under central rule as its assembly is dissolved.Earlier the union home minister had assured the people of Jammu and Kashmir that assembly elections will also be held.
THE Indian economy in the 70s and 80s were marked with moderate growth rates of 3 to 4 per cent and registered up to 2 per cent growth in employment (SWI-2018). But markedly the post reform period of the 90s and 2000s clocked less than even 1 per cent of growth in employment corresponding to an economic growth of 7-8 per cent. This was also a period of a structural transformation with a reduced workforce in agriculture with even the absolute number falling since 2004. Increasingly people were on the lookout for non-farm employment with construction and NREGS supplementing it.
THROUGH Bismarck’s Emergency Laws against, the Socialist German Workers, movement, the route to the Karlsbad water cure, which had done Marx so much good, was barred to him. From 1878 on his physical suffering grew worse again and hindered him increasingly in his work. But he was not the man to give in to illness and pain. In this sense also he fought to the end.With the smallest improvement in his health he returned to his work again. Summoning all his strength, he attempted to prepare the second book of Capital for the printer.
OVER 300 participants including intellectuals, university professors, college students, scientists, bankers, lawyers, labour unions, women’s organizations, social activists, media-persons and others, deliberated on the continuing agrarian crisis over three days on March 01–03 at the national conference of the ‘Nation for Farmers Forum’ in the India International Centre, New Delhi.
ON March 9, before the announcement of schedule for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Left Democratic Front in Kerala announced its candidates for the 20 constituencies in the state. CPI(M) is contesting 16 seats and CPI in four. Six MLA’s and six sitting MP’s are in the fray, CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said in a media conference at Thiruvananthapuram.CPI(M) central committee member and MP, K Sreemathy will contest again in Kannur.