Terror Campaign in West Bengal Resistance Building up at Grassroots

THE process of this year’s panchayat elections in West Bengal has exposed unashamed terror-based, lumpenised political-administrative structure in Mamata Banerjee regime.As the process of nominations began, TMC terror machine became active. Earlier it was booth capturing; this year it began with administrative office capturing. Block and sub divisional offices were cordoned off and opposition candidates were barred from submitting nominations.

KISAN LONG MARCH: Many Battles Lie Ahead

AS a follow up of the historic kisan long march from Nashik to Mumbai from March 6-12, 2018, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) called for a kisan vijay (victory) march in Kalwan, about 70 km north of Nashik, close to the border with Gujarat, on April 2. I travelled to Kalwan to be part of the march.Kalwan was awash with red. The local police estimated, I learnt, that between 25,000 to 30,000 farmers attended. The Kisan Sabha had erected a large pandal with a stage on one side. This pandal couldn’t have accommodated everybody, and so they spilled out on all sides.

Relevance of Mass Struggles in Building Left & Democratic Front

THE exceptional experience and triumph of the Long March of Maharashtra farmers under the leadership of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has brought enormous confidence among the toiling people. It has awakened the imagination of all progressive forces in their longstanding struggle to overthrow the exploitative rule of corporate-land lord forces in India.

PANCHAYAT POLLS IN WEST BENGAL: TMC Unleashes Ruthless Violence on Women

WEST Bengal experienced an unprecedented violence against women by Trinamul Congress administration on the eve of panchyat polls in the state. Women belonging to Left parties were physically assaulted when they were going to file the nominations; they were threatened in their homes; wives and daughters of Left leaders were not spared, even if they were not filing nominations. Trinamul Congress regime in the state in alliance with the State Election Commission is not only authoritarian but also flouting all norms of minimal consideration of human rights.

March to Save Vizag Steel Plant

THE Steel Plant Employees’ Union, Visakhapatnam (CITU) gave a clarion call to the permanent and contract employees of the state-owned Vizag Steel Plant for a 26-km rally on April 5. More than 4,000 workers started the march at 5 AM from the steel plant main gate and reached Vizag city central park at 12 noon, with massive response and solidarity from the public, fraternal trade unions and several mass organisations at 22 different points.

West Bengal Panchayat: Elections Stop Attacks, Restore Democracy & Democratic Rights

THE Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation All India Forward Bloc, Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), have issued the following statement on April 6, 2018 · Submission of nominations by Left Front and opposition candidates obstructed.· Block and SDO offices are cordoned off by TMC armed gangs.· Attacks on opposition activists and candidates in all districts.· More than 200 people have been injured.· State Election Commission is virtually defunct.· Police is compl

MAHARASHTRA Kisan Long March: A Remarkable Struggle

ON October 3-4, 2016, over 50,000 adivasi peasants, women, youth and students from various tribal districts of Maharashtra held a gherao of the house of the BJP tribal development minister at the sub divisional centre of Wada in Palghar district. The struggle was jointly led by the AIKS, AIDWA, DYFI, SFI and AARM.

West Bengal:Brazen Assault on Democracy

THE three-tier panchayat elections in West Bengal is becoming a farcical exercise due to the unprecedented and shameful attack by the ruling Trinamul Congress to throttle the democratic process at the outset itself. One has heard of rigging elections by capturing booths, but this is the first time the elections are sought to be rigged by capturing the administrative offices where nominations are filed.From April 2 to 9, the period when nominations were to be filed for the three phase election, West Bengal has witnessed the shameful spectacle of armed Trinamul gangs surrounding the block de

Southern Ministers' Meet Demands Change in Finance Commission's Terms of Reference

AN unusual gathering of finance ministers from South Indian states demanded the centre to change the terms of reference of the 15th finance commission which is expected to lessen the powers of the states. The meeting held on April 10, at Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala has decided to prepare a memorandum on this regard. The five ministers will again meet at Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to finalise the draft of the memorandum and invitation will be sent to finance ministers of other states too.

Fixed Term Employment for Promoting Ease of Doing Business

THE World Bank’s ease of doing business index in 2018 ranked India at 100, up from 130 a year ago. Buoyed with this report, the BJP government has reportedly targeted 90 reforms to further climb up the ladder to reach the top 50.Extending Fixed Term Employment to all sectors is undoubtedly one such measure.On March 16th this year, the government issued a Gazette notification amending the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules, 1946, allowing Fixed Term Employment in all sectors.

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