THE CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front in Kerala has announced its list of 124 candidates for the elections to the 140 member Kerala legislative assembly. There are 12 women and 11 independent candidates in the list.

THE second full budget and third one by finance minister Arun Jaitley has been applauded for “revival of rural India”. In his budget speech, Jaitley said the buoyancy in tax income, an indicator of the market’s confidence in the Modi government, has helped them spend more than the earmarked amount while sticking to the fiscal discipline. The government blatantly concealed the fact that the buoyancy in tax income is only in terms of direct taxes which does not need any confidence of the market in the government of the day.

TRINAMOOL Congress came to power in West Bengal in 2011. In the last five years, the people of West Bengal have experienced complete denial of both public and private investment in welfare of the masses. Trinamool Congress, after coming to power, resorted to political intolerance towards the Left forces. This was happening in the immediate phase after gaining power. Political intolerance was followed by financial extortions from families of known Left voters as well as forced displacements of families of Left parties from their localities.

THE people of the Republic of Ireland have observed the centenary of the historic Easter Uprising which took place in 1916. This uprising was a landmark in the struggle of the Irish people against British imperialism for independence. It was a catalytic event which eventually led to the armed struggle which culminated in the Irish Free State being set up in 1921 with dominion status in the British Empire. The Easter Uprising saw 1500 armed volunteers occupy the General Post Office and other buildings in the heart of Dublin and proclaiming the Free State of Ireland.

THE imposition of president’s rule in Uttarakhand and the dismissal of the Harish Rawat government is a blatant attack on democracy, constitutional norms and states rights by the Modi government. Coming after the imposition of president’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh a few weeks earlier to facilitate a government with defectors from the Congress and the BJP, the Modi government has shown that it will utilise the draconian Article 356 of the constitution to topple non-BJP state governments, utilising any opportunity available.