Vagaries of Coalition Politics

A month before the ensuing Assembly elections in four major states, significant shifts are underway in terms of political alignments. In Assam, the AGP and BJP have eventually formalised their hitherto informal understanding leaving the AGP's Left allies in a state of awkward embarrassment. In West Bengal, the TMC-Congress tie-up has taken shape, pushing the BJP back to its original position as a third force. In Tamil Nadu, the process of realignment had been started with the PMK quitting DMK's company to cross over to the side of AIADMK. The MDMK also seems to be parting company with the DMK while sticking with the BJP and the NDA. Only in Kerala, there is no visible pattern of realignment except that the grand old man of the Congress in Kerala is still sulking.

These changes in political alignment have of course not been effected entirely smoothly. There is obvious disgruntlement among sections of sitting Congress MLAs and TMC aspirants and the BJP is desperately trying to cash in on it. In Guwahati, the BJP state office has been ransacked by irate ranks. P Chidamabaram has broken ranks with Moopanar and, for whatever it may be worth, has offered to campaign for the DMK in the changed situation. But by all indications, the new equations are here to stay thanks to the anticipatory glue of power and shared ideology of opportunism and reaction.

The most unsettling has been the tie-up between the Congress and Trinamul Congress in West Bengal. The CPI(M) is having to rewrite its election manifesto and reorient its entire election propaganda. As long as the TMC-BJP combine was in place, the Left Front could ignore the Congress and treat its battle in Bengal as a classic case of the Centre versus State showdown and a perfect extension of its national opposition to the main enemy. The Congress-TMC tie-up has thrown this neat script out of gear and the CPI(M) is being forced to recall bits and pieces of its old anti-Congressism. The semi-fascist terror unleashed by the Congress back in the 1970s and the party's capitulation to the saffron zealots on the Ayodhya issue will now be back in currency. The CPI(M) in Bengal has now committed itself so thoroughly in favour of the neo-liberal economic agenda that it cannot afford to make the economic policy its principal poll plank.

The perils of reducing Left politics to sheer anti-BJPism have never been so clearly exposed. Interestingly, the Congress-TMC equation has also unsettled the gameplan of the CPI(M) dissidents in West Bengal. The PDS was keen on forging an electoral alliance with the Congress, but now without the coveted company of the Congress, it has been challenged to first find its own feet on the ground.

Like the vagaries of climate and the vagaries of market, we are now faced with the vagaries of coalition politics. The opportunist Left has always ridiculed the notion of political independence as isolationism and fancied itself as an expert player of coalition politics, which, far from denoting principled communist attempts at building a united front, has increasingly been reduced to a euphemism for the art of hobnobbing with bourgeois parties. The identity of the Left built through decades of hard work, heroic struggles and enormous sacrifices, has been smeared considerably by parliamentary cretinism and opportunism. The pre-election realignments have already placed the question of Left's independent identity on top of the agenda and probably there will be more for the Left to ponder as the election draws nearer.

CPI(ML) for Resumption of Dialogue with Pakistan on Kashmir Issue

CPI(ML) said that negotiated settlement of the Kashmir dispute and any breakthrough in this regard cannot be achieved without early resumption of dialogue with Pakistan and sincerity of taking concrete steps of confidence building among the people of the troubled state. Party said, "mere politicking on Kashmri will not yield any result". Devoid of measures like an end to the culture of custodial killings and rapes, amnesty to the innocent imprisoned youth and exemplery punishment to the guilty officials of the security forces, and an early resumption of dialogue with Pakistan, the politics of 'peace agenda' is bound to ring a hollow note.

American Violation of China's Air Space Condemned

CPI(ML) also condemned the US audacity of infringement of air space of China by a spy plane and shooting down a chinese plane. Terming it a belligerent act violative of international laws, Party demanded from Indian government to break its studied silence and clarify its position in this regard.

Party Condemns Killing of Worker's Family

Party strongly condemned the ghastly act of killing 6 dalits including a woman and her five children by a brick-kiln owner in Aligarh in UP, because the husband of the woman Naresh Manjhi, a worker at the brick-kiln had demanded wages. The Party said that the incidence of killings of dalits is on the rise in UP, particularly after Rajnath Singh came to power.

CPI(ML) Polit Bureau Deliberations

The Political Bureau of CPI(ML) met in Patna on 31-April 1 and adopted the following resolutions:

1. On National Political Situation :

A. The political fallouts of the Tehelka controversy have begun to crystallise. While intensifying the internal power struggle at various levels of the Sangh Parivar, it has clearly come as a shot in the arm to all quarters of the Opposition.

The expose, coming on the eve of the Assembly elections in five states, has put the Vajpayee Government under siege, exposed its claims of good governance, and has robbed the Sangh Parivar of its nationalist pretensions because of the compromising of national security. Unlike the Bofors scandal, the Tehelka exposure has brought to surface the systemic nature of corruption.

The departure of Trinamul Congress from the NDA has brought about realignment in election-bound West Bengal leading to an electoral tie-up between Trinamul and the Congress. Embarrassed by the fallout, NDA partners like DMK and TDP have refused to join the 'NDA rallies' organised in defence of the government.

The belated measures at damage control by the Vajpayee Government -- through securing resignations of tainted leaders and ministers and suspending government and army officials, and announcing an enquiry by a retired SC judge - have not succeeded in putting a lid on the controversy. Tehelka will continue to remain a key issue in the days to come, especially in the campaign for Assembly elections.

The spectre of Bofors notwithstanding, political initiative in round one lies more with the Congress than with the so-called People's Front. Developments in West Bengal have made the CPI(M) jittery and the party's anxiety can be felt clearly in its desperate 'secular' pleas to the Congress High Command. The formation of the People's Front appears to have been inspired more by the positioning of these parties for any eventuality of alternative government formation at the Centre as well as by desperate but futile pressure tactics by CPI(M) towards the Congress on the question of its alliance with Trinamul, rather than by any intention to launch a powerful and really broad-based popular movement on the question of corruption.

B. The post-budget euphoria has been extremely short-lived. This year's budget was expected to have a tonic effect on the share market, but in real life, the share market continues to be in the grip of a protracted bear-run. The arrest of Ketan Parekh in the midst of a renewed share market scam has once again highlighted the inherent vulnerability of the capital market in India. The continuing agitation of Balco workers and the showdown between the NDA-led Centre and Congress-led Chhattisgarh over the issue of Balco disinvestment has shaken the objectively prevailing consensus among bourgeois parties over the agenda of neo-liberal reforms. This coupled with the unrest generated by the unabating agrarian crisis has created a favourable climate for a more decisive popular resistance to the economic reforms.

The impact of Tehelka tremors has to be assessed against the backdrop of this growing uncertainty surrounding the share markets and the government's ambitious programme of second generation reforms.

C. Immediately in the wake of the Tehelka controversy, the Party Central Committee had given a call for an indefinite "Oust Vajpayee Government" campaign and different forms of agitation have been launched by Party organisations in different places. This campaign needs to be continued and further intensified by including in its ambit other basic issues of the people. This will naturally be focus of our exposure campaign during the elections in five states and in the ongoing Panchayat elections in Bihar as well. CPI(ML) will organise an open-air convention in Delhi during the coming Parliament session.

Party's labour wing, AICCTU will organise rallies on May 1 focusing on this issue as well as on the proposed labour law reforms and other issues relating to second generation reforms, with special emphasis on Balco, etc.

2. Forthcoming Assembly Elections:

a) In Assam, CPI(ML)'s ally ASDC (Progressive) candidates will contest from Diphu (Daniel Teron), Baithalangso (Francis Teron), Bokajan (Salawar Bey), Howrahghat (Robi Kr. Phangcho) and Haflong (Prakanta Warisa). CPI(ML)-MMK supported independents are contesting from three seats.

In the rest of Assam, CPI(ML) will contest 8 seats: In Tinsukia district, Digboi, Margaretta and Tinsukia, in Sonitpur district Behali (Vivek Das); in Barpeta district Champaguri; in Dibrugarh, Dibrugarh (Kanakalata Datta) and Naharkatia and in Silchar district Barkhola. Some more seats will be finalised later.

b) The CPI(M)'s approach of making the so-called secular plank the minimum common denominator has now boomeranged on it in West Bengal. While it faces a powerful challenge from a rival "secular' front of Congress-Trinamul, it finds itself in an unenviable position of having to explain how it is going to reconcile this with its unity and 'secular cooperation' with Congress in certain other states and at the national level. While opposing the rightwing Trinamul-Congress alliance, we will continue to maintain our legacy of left opposition to the 24 years of Left Front rule in these elections.

In West Bengal we will be contesting 26 seats: In Jalpaiguri, Mainaguri - Rupeshwar; in Darjeeling, Siliguri - Tapan Chakraborty; in North Dinajpur, Goalpokhar - Mohammad Shahabuddin, Karandighi - Rajkumar Singh, Kaliaganj(SC) - Binandan Burman, Raiganj(SC) - Ajit Das, Itahar - Azizur Rehman; in South Dinajpur, Kumarganj (SC) - Dinesh Sarkar; in Malda, Sujapur - Lutfur Rehman, Kaliachak - Dhirendranath Sarkar; in Murshidabad, Kandi - Tapan Bhattacharya; in Nadia, Krishnanagar West - Subimal Sengupta, Nakashipara - Pradip Duttagupta, Kaliganj - Krishna Pramanik, Chapra - Abu Bakar; in Bardhaman, Purbasthali - Subodh Mazumdar, Nadanghat - Srikant Rana, Manteshwar - Ananda Prasad Bhattacharya, Kalna - Jagannath Mondal, North Bardhaman - Biswanath Ghosh, Barabani - Paran Rout; in Hooghly, Balagarh - Pralay Biswas, Pandooah - Sajal Adhikari; in North 24 Parganas, Naihati - Subrata Sengupta; in Bankura, Barjora - Dilip Mukherjee; in Kolkata, Alipore - Jayatu Deshmukh.

c) In Tamil Nadu, we will be contesting 12 seats: 1) Villivakkam - S.Kumaraswamy; 2) Thirupporur - Iraniyappan; 3) Ponneri (SC) - Janakiraman; 4) Thiruvidaimaruthur - TKS Janardhanan; 5) Sirkazhi - N. Gunasekaran; 6) Thiruchengodu - Govindarajan; 7) Devakottai - D. Pandian; 8) Thirunelveli - Sankarapandian; 9) Madurai Central - Bose; 10) Vedachendur - Murugesan; 11) Tondamuthur (Coimbatore) - Damodaran; 12) Pudukottai - Viduthalai Kumaran

d) In Kerala we are contesting two seats -Neyattinkara (CV Karunakaran Nair) and Kollamkode (Joy Peter T.); and in Pondicherry we are contesting two seats - Embalom (A. Ilangovin) and Ozhugarai (Ms. Bhanu).

Saffronisation of ICSSR

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr. ML Sondhi, Chairman of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) has pleaded that Sangh Parivar to be taken off his back. Mr. Sondhi is not a Leftist. In fact, his appointment at the time when when Romila Thapar was removed from Prasar Bharati was seen as part of a move to pack these bodies with a Hindutwa lobby.

But even he is saying that "danger facing the ICSSR is now the gravest... in 30 years", it shows that what is taking place today hasn't happened for three decades. Clearly, there is a blatancy about the saffronisation of these bodies which was absent earlier when the 'pseudo-secularists' supposedly nominated their own kind. What is more, if a few sensible people in the BJP camp are worried, it is because of the poor calibre of the 'academics' and 'film buffs' who are being patronised by the present dispensation. As much is evident from Mr. Sondhi's rueful comment that the ICSSR is in a "state of seige", presumably because scholarly research is being "subordinated to ... political and ideological requirements". Since the charge is coming from within the Hindutwa lobby, it obviously shows that much of the concern which the "pseudo-secularists" have been expressing about the reckless saffronisation of the academia is not without basis.

(from Hindustan Times, 9-4-2001)

Investigation Team on Kanpur Riots

A CPI(ML) investigation team led by Com. Akhilendra Pratap Singh, State Party Secy. of UP and comprising Nihaluddin and MK Sherwani of All India Muslim Forum, RYA state president Com. Md. Salim, Kanpur party leaders including Com. Vijay Kumar and Nitendra Singh Yadav and Com. Awadhesh K. Singh. The report pointed out that it was a one-sided police action against minorities and the people of Kanpur foiled the police plan to instigate full-scale riots. BJP leaders were accompanying PAC while marching in Muslim-dominated areas during curfew and leading attack on the minorities. Police killed a number of Muslims and common people dragging them out of their houses and put a good number of houses on fire. The investigation team declared the allegation of firing on ADM CP Pathak from a mosque as simply concocted because the mosque is too far from the place where Mr Pathak was killed. OC Mohanlal Verma ordered firing without provocation and got the shops looted. Here too the allegation that the police station was attacked is patently false. The investigation team demanded judicial probe into the whole incident.

Contractor Compelled to Pay Arrears to Workers

Janwadi Mazdoor Ekta Kendra (JMEK) Bhilai (affiliated to AICCTU) after a prolonged struggle against Five Star Constructions Company in Bhilai Steel Plant ultimately got the final payment for 63 workers amounting to Rs.5 lakh. Com. Shambhu Singh, president JMEK, A Shekhar Rao, president CSW and others represented the union in the talks. Earlier, CSW had succeeded in getting final payment for 36 workers from another contractor.

Election Meetings in T.N.

In view of the coming elections, preparatory meetings of workers were held at Chennai at Ambattur and Vadapalani on 1 April. The Ambattur-meeting, attended by 250 workers, was presided by Com. AS Kumar. Com. SKumarsamy, candidate for Villivakkam, while addressing the meeting urged the workers to get into political struggle.

Procession in Raiganj

On 26 March a procession was brought out at Raiganj in North Dinajpur district of West Bengal exposing the defence scandal revealed by Tehelka. Street corner meetings were held at Mohanbati and State Garage. Com. Ajit Das, Party District Secy. and Ganesh Chetry addressed the protestors. Speakers said that the culprits who have accepted kickbacks must be arrested and cases must be instituted against them, judicial probe is just an eyewash. And the BJP-led government must resign immediately.

AICCTU in A&N Island Observed Bhagat Singh's Martyrdom Day

AICCTU State Committee of Andaman and Nicobar Islands observed the 70th martyrdom day of Shaheed Bhagat Singh on 23 March. Com. M. Sadasivan, State president of AICCTU garlanded the portrait of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. He and other leaders addressed the street corner meetings held at various places in South Andaman areas. While paying homages to Shaheed Rajguru, Sukhdev and Bhagat Singh, speakers pointed out that time has come to fight against imperialists once again to protect the freedom of India as well as to extend real freedom to the common people, especially to the working class.

Bhagat Singh Remembered in Raiganj

Bhagat Singh's 70th martyrdom day was observed at Raiganj by AISA and RYA. Apart from Uttam Sarkar of RYA and Pintoo Ghosh of AISA, who garlanded the photo of Bhagat Singh, Com. Ajit Das and Sushanta Sarkar also addressed the gathering.

Movement Against Debt in Jammu

Poor peasants in Jammu region who had taken loans from Jammu Central Cooperative Bank during 1986-88 period are now being harassed by the bank officials and police to repay the principal amount and interest which is usuriously several times high than the principal, and even warrants have been issued against some of the defaulters. In 1989 the VP Singh Govt. had announced cancellation of such debts but J&K Govt. did not follow suit. On the other hand, conditions of draught nowadays prevail over the Jammu region and peasants are demanding relief. Therefore, on the demands of cancellation of debts and relief to the draught-stricken peasants, a mass meeting was held in Sunderbani Tehsil of Rajauri district on 30 March. It was addressed, among others, by Com. BB Pandey, CC member in-charge of Jammu. Later a delegation including Com. Satpal Verma, Secy. of Jammu unit met the Tehsildar and submitted him a memorandum containing the above demands. Then, Party held a demonstration before the Cooperative and Agricultural Minister of J&K Govt. at Jammu on 4 April and a delegation led by Com. Satpal Verma and Ghulam Mohammad Malik met him. The minister has promised to positively consider the case. The movement will continue till all the demands are met.

Politics of Criminalisation Has Completed its Circle in Bihar

Both the ruling RJD and the official opposition BJP-Samata are competing to woo the mafia chieftain of Siwan, Shahabuddin, and consequently he is not being arrested despite all the people's pressure for putting him behind the bars. The police in Siwan had gone to arrest Shahabuddin because he had not only taken the law in his own hands but attacked a police station as well. But both RJD and BJP have termed the act of police in Siwan as a "rebellion". After all, why the same police which had so long been offering protection to the mafia don suddenly went to the extreme of staging a "rebellion" against him? How could Shahabuddin remain "absconding" even after the arrest warrant was issued against him? And most surprisingly, how could he ultimately reach Delhi in the same plane with Sushil Kumar Modi, BJP Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, and Nand Kishore Yadav, president of Bihar unit of BJP? If police has killed 'innocent' people in Siwan during the action against Shahabuddin, why the government has not made public the names of those killed?

The process of criminalisation of politics has completed its circle in Bihar, culminating in criminalisation of power. In Bihar today, Shahabuddin is not just the name of a criminal, because of his fire power he has become synonymous to state power, and therefore, both ruling and oppositon parties in Bihar are busy in wooing him, and they are working overtime to save him. It is only CPI(ML) which has consistently raised the demand of arrest of Shahabuddin, in both Bihar and Delhi; it has led the crusade of toiling people against criminalisation of power. Not only on the streets, it has also raised the question within Bihar legislature too and exposed the politics of both RJD-Congress and BJP-Samata camps. The Party has clearly stated that till Shahabuddin and his gangmen are not put behind the bars, till they are not fully disarmed, peace cannot be restored in Siwan and the neighbouring districts. Shahabuddin can no more be let off as a representative of a minority, he has now become identified in the eyes of Bihar people as the killer of Chandrashekhar and Shyam Narain Yadav, killer of innocent people from among dalits, poor and even Muslims.

The battle against Shahabuddin has become an integral and most important part of battle for democracy in Bihar and in India as a whole.