AS per the CPI(M) Polit Bureau call for June 16, the Party in Maharashtra mobilised over 13,200 people at 203 centres in 60 tehsils of 21 districts on the four major demands directed against the Modi-led BJP central government. It was the largest mass action by the Party in the last three months of the Covid-19 lockdown and was covered by sections of the mainstream media in some districts and by the social media widely.

The two districts with the largest mobilisation were Thane-Palghar (participation of 4,100 at 61 centres in six tehsils) and Solapur (participation of 3,500 at 42 centres in the city and three tehsils). Nagpur district came third, with the participation of 1,100 people at 29 centres in four tehsils. The other districts were: Nashik – participation in round figures 700, Nanded – 600, Amravati – 500, Jalna – 500, Beed – 400, Nandurbar – 400, Mumbai – 350, Wardha – 300, Buldana – 300, Sangli – 150, Aurangabad – 100, Pune – 100, Kolhapur – 100, Satara – 50, Ahmednagar – 50, Yavatmal – 25, Parbhani – 25 and Raigad – 25. 

At almost all places, the demonstrations included public meetings where state, district and local leaders of the Party contrasted the abysmal performance of the BJP central government with the admirable performance of the LDF Kerala state government, both in fighting Covid and also in helping the people in distress. They also highlighted the people’s demands.  Most members of the Central Committee and state committee led the actions at various places.

PROTESTS AGAINST DIESEL &
PETROL PRICE HIKE
As per the nationwide Left parties call, the CPI(M) held demonstrations at over 100 centres in 12 districts on June 29, against the back-breaking price hike of diesel and petrol by the Modi regime at a time when the international oil prices were plummeting. Here again, over 1,000 people each took part in several centres of Thane-Palghar and Solapur districts. 28 people were arrested in Solapur and were later released. Demonstrations were also held in Nagpur, Nanded, Beed, Jalna, Nashik, Parbhani, Aurangabad and other districts.

CLASS AND MASS FRONT CALLS 
The earlier mass action calls by the various class and mass fronts like CITU, AIKS, AIAWU, AIDWA, SFI and DYFI in the months of May and June were generally implemented quite well in Maharashtra. Preparations are now on by the CITU for the July 3 actions, and jointly by the CITU, AIKS and AIAWU for the July 23 and August 9 mass actions. An online meeting of the state leadership of the three class organisations was held last week to plan for all these three actions. It was decided that maximum concentration would be applied to make the August 9 call a massive success in the state.

Several Facebook posts by RSS liars consisting of canards aimed at the CPI(M) central leadership on the India-China armed conflict began appearing soon after the border clash on June 15/16. Prominent among them was Sanjay Fadnavis, cousin of former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis. The CPI(M) state secretariat decided to file a criminal defamation suit against Sanjay Fadnavis. CCM Mahendra Singh has begun preparations to file the same. 

The daily bulletin of the state Party weekly Jeewanmarg, which was begun on April 1, 2020, within a week of the lockdown, is being brought out and is being widely propagated on the social media without a break for the last three months. It has articles by Party and mass front leaders, and also by some prominent non-Party intellectuals, not only on the Covid crisis and its related aspects, but also on other important political issues. Uday Narkar, the editor of Jeewanmarg and state secretariat member, has taken the initiative to keep it running for the last 90 days. It has been widely appreciated even outside the Party.

Over the last three months, the Facebook pages of the state CPI(M), CITU and SFI have been activated and several Facebook Live talks on various issues have been organised. The AIKS Facebook page will begin such talks from next week. The AIDWA has begun holding online talks on various issues for the last two weeks.

Party renewal for 2020 has almost been completed. It will be finalised in online meetings of the Party’s state secretariat and state committee, which will be held in the second week of July in the presence of PBM Nilotpal Basu.