The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met on May 16 & 17, 2015 at New Delhi. It has issued the following statement: THE Polit Bureau noted the three trends, being pursued by the BJP government, that the Party had noted at its 21st Congress – the aggressive pursuit of the neo-liberal policies of economic reforms; the relentless onslaughts on the secular democratic foundations of the Indian Republic by the sharpening of communal polarisation and the movement towards an authoritarian rule through the erosion of democratic institutions – are all getting aggravated. ONE YEAR OF BJP GOVT The Polit Bureau noted that all the apprehensions about the BJP, an avowedly rightwing communal party coming to power at the centre, as the political arm of the RSS, have come true in the past one year. COMMUNAL POLARISATION The BJP government has sought to systematically implement the RSS agenda. It has infiltrated known RSS men into higher educational institutions; communalise curriculum etc. The latest incident is the so-called overhauling of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) where internationally reputed Indian historians have been forced to quit. The government has refused to take action against its ministers and MPs who have through hate speeches sought to incite people and communally polarise them. Growing incidents of communal clashes and riots are being reported from various parts of the country. GROWING PEOPLE’S ECONOMIC BURDENS During the last one year massive economic burdens have been imposed on the people. Two massive hikes have been made in petrol and diesel prices within a span of two weeks. Apart from adding to the overall inflationary spiral, this constitutes a criminal attack on rural India particularly farmers who are battling a series of bad weather conditions during the last one year. Unseasonal rains have ruined standing crops and it is estimated that 180 million hectares of agricultural crops have been affected. Consequently, incidence of distress suicides by farmers is growing. The Polit Bureau condemns the utterly callous attitude displayed by the BJP government in addressing the concerns of the farmers who have suffered heavy losses. CPI(M) units throughout the country have held protests against this attitude of the government. The Party will join with other Left and democratic forces to intensify the protest in the coming days. The BJP government is aggressively pursuing the neo-liberal economic policies of the erstwhile Manmohan Singh led UPA government. During the last one year the Modi government has been pursuing nakedly pro-big business policies and enticing foreign capital with massive concessions. This will further deepen social inequalities and intensify the exploitation of the working people. It is backtracking on many issues that it had opposed during the UPA government period like FDI in retail trade. Its backtracking on the Land Acquisition Bill is a classic case. It is only due to the combined opposition in the Rajya Sabha that the government was forced to send this Bill to a joint parliamentary committee. The way the Modi government is undermining parliamentary democracy is unprecedented. It has passed nearly 50 legislations (over 90 per cent) in the Lok Sabha without allowing a parliamentary scrutiny by referring them to the respective parliamentary standing committees, during the course of its first year in office. It is only due to the strength of the combined opposition parties that it was forced to refer seven Bills it passed in the Lok Sabha using its ‘tyranny of majority’, to select committees in the Rajya Sabha. The Modi government is contemplating major changes in the labour laws of the country. All the central trade unions are discussing the manner in which protests would be organised nationwide against this anti-labour move. The CPI(M) extends its support to such protests. The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) calls upon all its units to strengthen popular protests against such policies of this BJP government that are imposing unprecedented economic burdens. DETERIORATING CENTRE-STATE RELATIONS Contrary to the declared repeated statements by PM Modi that his government promotes “cooperative federalism” the rights of the states are being continuously eroded. Clearly, this Modi government is moving towards a unitary form of government that is completely violative of the federal structure in our constitutional scheme of things. A case in point is the erosion of the special category status that has traditionally been granted for all the North Eastern states. All the CMs of the North Eastern states have written to the prime minister expressing their concerns on this score. The BJP central government is unilaterally appointing its known political workers as governors to the states. The recently appointed governor of the Left-ruled state of Tripura has publicly spoken of his support to the hardcore Hindutva agenda being pursued by this Modi government. Such comments do not behove persons occupying such constitutional positions. Another affront to centre-state relations has now surfaced between the central government appointed Lt. Governor of Delhi and the democratically elected Delhi state government. The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) denounces such anti-democratic acts of this BJP central government and calls upon the opposition parties to raise protest against the further erosion of the states’ rights and deteriorating centre-state relations. PM’S CHINA VISIT The CPI(M) has always supported the improvement of Sino-Indian relations that will result in mutual beneficial consequences for both the countries. The prime minister’s visit to the People’s Republic of China is the continuation of this process of strengthening bilateral relations with China and people to people contacts. A detailed analysis of the texts of the agreements arrived at will have to be made. However, it needs to be noted that Prime Minister Modi visited 18 countries during the last one year. This is unprecedented for any prime minister during such a short span of time. NEPAL EARTHQUAKE FUND In response to the Party’s call for collection of funds to help in the relief and rehabilitation work for the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal, till date the Party Centre has received Rs 2,84,05,869.00. DIVISION OF RESPONSIBILITIES The Polit Bureau discussed the division of responsibilities and the organisational set up at the Party Centre. This will be placed before the Central Committee which will be meeting on June 6-7, 2015, for discussion and its approval. The Polit Bureau had a preliminary discussion on the work regarding the organisational plenum. The details will be finalised during the meeting of the next Central Committee.