In lieu of Editorial

Circular of the Central Committee

Party Central Committee met in New Delhi on and from 11 March to 13 March. The meeting began by paying tribute to martyr Comrade Mahendra Singh and other comrades who have laid down their lives in the course of the electoral battle and in its aftermath. This circular contains a summary of CC deliberations and decisions.

1. The CC congratulates the Party organisations and all our supporters and well wishers in Bihar and Jharkhand for the powerful election campaign conducted against heavy odds. The killing of Comrade Mahendra was a heavy shock to the entire Party and especially to the Party organisation in Giridih and Jharkhand. But the entire Party rose and marched in unison to cope successfully with this crisis. We suffered yet another major blow when several Party members and supporters died in a bomb explosion in a Jehanabad village. Many of our candidates remained implicated in false cases, in two cases nominations were rejected on flimsy grounds and at least seven comrades (four in Bihar and three in Jharkhand) had to contest from behind the bars.

Braving all these odds, the Party went ahead to contest as many as 109 seats in Bihar and 28 seats in Jharkhand and run a determined campaign. The campaign evoked enthusiastic support and widespread mass response enabling us to retain four of our five seats in the outgoing Assembly, regain two seats that we had lost last time, and wrest one new seat from the RJD. With 3% seats in Bihar Assembly, we have now achieved state recognition in Bihar, something that has eluded us in the two previous elections.

2. In terms of votes, our performance has been relatively better in Jharkhand. We have polled 2.45% votes in the state by contesting one out of every three seats. We remained in contest in five seats, out of which we managed to win one, finished second in two and third in the remaining two. In general, votes obtained by our candidates indicate a growing trend in most regions and seats (except Ranchi district, Manika (ST) constituency of Latehar and Nala of Jamtara district).

By contrast, despite winning seven seats we notice a downward trend in our votes in many seats in Bihar. Our vote share in Bihar (2.49%) has declined by around 0.4%. The sharpest fall (compared to the Assembly elections of 2000) has been recorded in Nalanda and West Champaran districts, but votes have gone down almost in all constituencies of Patna, Jehanabad, Darbhanga and Katihar. A general trend of low polling (especially in the last phase), lack of appropriate papers, large-scale migration of agricultural labourers etc. are generally cited as major reasons. Also our votes seem to have gone down drastically in many seats where we were not seen to be in the race. We must make a detailed boothwise study of the voting pattern in our areas of work, identify our major weaknesses and take urgent steps to overcome them.

3. There was clearly a strong current in Bihar against the Laloo-Rabri regime. Every opposition party in the state has gained in the situation. The JD(U) and Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party have emerged as the biggest gainers. We do not subscribe to the analysis made by ideologues and advocates of the UPA-Left camp which attributes Laloo’s defeat to merely a rift in the UPA coalition. There is a clear erosion in Laloo’s social base and in his political authority.

The LJP had a pact with the Congress and the LJP-Congress combine was even projected as the emerging alternative to the RJD rule. Judged against this claim, the LJP-Congress tally of 29 and 10 seats is certainly not a big number. But in the given situation of a fractured mandate and a hung assembly, the LJP’s 29 has been sufficient to deny an outright majority to either NDA or the RJD-Congress combine.

On our part, we have made it clear that our 7 MLAs would oppose any attempt to instal yet another RJD-led government or any non-RJD government dependent on the BJP. The SP with its 4 MLAs have also adopted a similar position. The similarity between our stand and the immediate positions adopted by the LJP or the SP is nothing more than a circumstantial concurrence or coincidence and it does not reflect any automatic political agreement for the future.

4. With no combination succeeding in securing a majority, Bihar has been placed under President’s Rule. While the UPA and NDA camps are using the present period for behind-the-scenes bargaining and for positioning themselves for the future battle, we should also take this opportunity to systematically articulate our agenda, raise our profile and consolidate our organisation.

President’s Rule in Bihar reflects a state of confusion and division among the ruling classes over the future of Bihar. While Lalu Prasad has clearly lost his edge, neither Nitish Kumar nor Ram Vilas Paswan has yet been able to acquire the necessary strength to replace him. The Congress therefore wants President’s Rule as a transitional arrangement to regain political initiative. In the name of toning up the administration, greater repression may be unleashed on the rural poor and on our Party. Already there are reports of an anti-dalit backlash from different corners of the state. We must therefore remain politically vigilant and organisationally alert to cope with the evolving situation.

Organisational work must be taken more seriously. Candidates must not be shifted from their constituencies unless it is absolutely urgent and in no case without consultation with higher committees. We must concentrate in a planned way on select seats in Bihar and Jharkhand and remain battle-ready for mid-term elections. Mass organisations must also plan their activities with a special focus on these areas of concentration.

We must remember that we are now widely accepted as the leading communist party in Bihar and Jharkhand and we will have to play our role accordingly. In Bihar we will have to expand and politicise our base among middle peasants in the course of a serious political contention with the JD(U) and RJD. Similarly we have to take on both the LJP and BSP to strengthen our base among the rural poor of dalit origin.

After fifteen years we are faced with a new situation in Bihar which has opened up a new phase of possibilities for our Party. We must grab this opportunity and make the most of it. This demands better division and coordination of work, improved propaganda efforts, more effective intervention and better articulation of our positions.

5. Like in Bihar, the situation in Jharkhand too was politically quite ripe for a change of government. But divisions in the UPA, split in the JMM and the utter political failure of the UPA constituents to mount any effective political offensive against the BJP enabled the NDA to have a narrow escape from a widely expected defeat. The dubious decisions taken by the Governor further energised and emboldened the NDA camp and the Congress eventually had to beat a clumsy retreat. In the given situation of Jharkhand every single vote was crucial and on the eve of the March 11 vote of confidence, we did offer critical support to the UPA in the confidence vote.

The reimposition of an NDA government in Jharkhand must now be met with an early resumption and intensification of the popular political battle against the BJP’s corrupt and murderous rule. Comrade Mahendra’s martyrdom has generated tremendous mass anger against the BJP and there is also a lot of political sympathy and support for our Party. We must strengthen his legacy with vibrant political initiative and a powerful and unified Party organisation.

6. The Assembly elections have discredited the Congress and created multidimensional rifts between the Congress and many of its UPA allies and Left friends. The misuse of the Governor’s office, the Supreme Court’s intervention in the affairs of the legislature, the Lok Sabha Speaker’s proposal to seek Presidential advice on the subject and his initiative to convene a conference of Speakers of State Assemblies – all these events and steps have added up to a potential political crisis which may eventually lead to the collapse of the UPA government at the Centre and mid-term elections in the country. In any case, Assembly elections are due in early 2006 in a number of states. States like Goa and Bihar that are currently under President’s Rule may also end up facing mid-term polls. We must remain prepared for such an eventuality.

As a result of the Congress-sponsored fiasco in Goa, Jharkhand and Bihar, the BJP has gained considerably in terms of political strength and initiative. The Congress has not only systematically betrayed the spirit of Mandate 2004 with its anti-poor and pro-imperialist economic policies, it is also supplying abundant political fuel and fodder for the BJP with its bankrupt politics and authoritarian assaults on democratic norms and conventions.

7. Chidambaram’s second budget has turned out to be brazenly corporate-friendly. The numerous concessions granted to big capital in the budget and the pre-budget concessions allowing 74% FDI in telecom and 100% FDI in construction indicate a steady intensification of the UPA government’s drive for liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. The so-called ‘human face’ concerns like employment, education, public health, agriculture and rural development have once again been ignored with grossly inadequate allocations while defence has been pampered once again with a hefty allocation of more than Rs. 80,000 crore. The trade unions are getting ready for a series of strikes. While supporting these strikes with all our strength, we must concentrate on mobilising agricultural labourers, peasants, unorganised workers and the student-youth community on their burning demands.

8. We have condemned the imposition of Emergency in Nepal and called upon the Indian government to stop giving political legitimacy and military aid to the autocratic monarchy. While extending moral and political support to the people’s movement for restoration of democracy and a possible convocation of a new constituent assembly and establishment of a people’s republic in Nepal, we must stand by the Nepali people living in India in defence of their democratic rights. In states and regions bordering Nepal, the Indian state is invoking the Nepali Maoist bogey to unleash repression on the rural poor, progressive intelligentsia and especially on our Party organisation. While mobilising support for the cause of democracy in Nepal, we must also arouse the democratic opinion in India against this growing repression in the border region. Last but not the least, we must come out strongly against the increasing danger of US intervention in Nepal.

9. The CC appreciates the solidarity shown by the people of India with the tsunami-affected people of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Andman and Nicobar islands and thanked all the people who have donated money to the CPI(ML)’s relief fund. Comrades of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry took prompt and exemplary initiative to rush relief to the fisherfolks and other sections of affected people in Nagpattinam and Karikal regions. The Party has already distributed relief worth more than Rs. Six lakh and plans are on to construct two community centres for fishermen and other affected communities in the areas where relief has already been provided.

The CC took critical note of the Centre’s apathy and the adverse effects of the politics of Centre-State confrontation in alleviating the plight of the tsunami-affected people of Tamil Nadu and meeting the urgent needs of rehabilitation. While the government is providing only token relief to the fishermen, other sections of the people who depend on the fishing economy and the coastline for their survival are being completely ignored. Our comrades have taken commendable initiative to organise fish-vending women, the agricultural population hit hard by the tsunami-related salination of cultivable land and the toiling masses who are now threatened with eviction all along the coastline. We must continue with this good work and make every effort to combine relief and rehabilitation work with agitational measures to organise the tsunami-affected people in their struggle for rebuilding their lives and livelihood.

10. a) The CC strongly condemns the state repression let loose by the Mulayam Singh government of Uttar Pradesh on the popular mobilisation in Lakhimpur district around issues of land and a shocking PDS scam. Apart from slapping false cases on our comrades, the administration has invoked the obnoxious goonda act against two of our leading comrades, even going to the extent of jailing a local journalist, a veteran local leader and a national level functionary of AIPWA. Contrary to the calculations of the local administration and the state government, this brazen repression has only intensified the resolve of our comrades and attracted broader attention of democratic forces, even prompting the chairperson of the state legislative council to ask for immediate transfer of the notorious SP of Lakhimpur. Developing on the basis of a powerful and sustained land struggle, the Lakhimpur movement has got the potential to attract wider sections and grow into a popular democratic campaign against the Mulayam Singh government and its pro-kulak anti-poor policies.

b) The CC also heard reports of the expanding land struggle in Orissa and Andhra. The Orissa State Committee organised an impressive march to the State Assembly in Bhubaneshwar on March 4, the day the Navin Patnaik government presented the state budget. The march witnessed participation from a dozen districts of the state with significant participation of tribals from Rayagada and Kalahandi as well as fishermen from Puri. In Andhra, the land struggle has spread to new areas in both East and west Godavari districts. While developing the land movement in a planned and systematic manner, the CC has called for greater attention to the task of formulation and implementation of approporiate policies regarding land distribution and conscious politicisation of the entire movement.

CPI(ML) Delegation Meets Union Home Minister

A CPI(ML) delegation met the Union Home Minister Shri Shiv Raj Patil on march 12 and urge him to take immediate steps to stop atrocities on dalits and ensure deterrent punishment to the guilty in Bihar . The delegation comprised of Bihar State Secretary and Polit Bureau member of the Party Ram Jatan Sharma, Ex-MP and MLA in Bihar Rameshwar Prasad, Ex-MP Jayant Rongpi and Central Commitee members Swapan Mukharjee and KD Yadav.

The delegation said that the governance in Bihar had become synonymous with state-sponsored criminalisation, anti-poor violence and collapse of basic services. President’s Rule must provide a break to the people of Bihar in all these spheres. In the wake of the Assembly elections and the fractured mandate that denied majority to either RJD or the NDA, dalits are being systematically targeted as ‘political spoilsports’ and post-poll atrocities on dalits are being daily reported from different corners of Bihar.

The delegation apprised the Union Home Minister of the recent incidents of atrocities on poor dalits, who happened to be CPI(ML) supporters, in Bhojpur. As many as 52 huts were set on fire and looted at a Musahartola near Hasanbazar, Piro, on March 8 evening, killing one Hareram Musahar and injuring several persons. All the people of the hamlet have since been rendered homeless in their own land. In a separate incident on the same day, armed assailants killed Deolal Ram and Ganesh Ram of Marjyatola near Charpokhribazar, in the same Assembly segment Piro, and injured three other members of the family. In the night of 9 March 2005 Musahar tola of the village Sorangpur Mathia under Dulhin Bazar, Patna , was attacked by feudal-criminal goons and one dalit, Lohari Manjhi, a CPI(ML) activist, was brutally killed.

These incidents can by no means be treated as isolated cases of atrocities. Bihar has always been notorious for feudal-criminal attacks on dalits. Just after the declaration of Assembly election results, on February 28, dalit tola of Bedouli village of Gopalganj district fell victim to feudal atrocities. One Bijli Ram was not only beaten up in public, he was forced to eat the human excreta and paraded in the local bazar.

It is also quite revealing that while the Election Commission has now accorded state recognition to the CPI(ML) on the basis of the party’s improved showing in the Assembly elections, CPI(ML) supporters and activists, especially those from dalit and downtrodden origin, are being attacked and killed by goons owing allegiance to the BJP and the RJD.

Vote of Confidence in Jharkhand Assembly:

Gross Violation of Democracy

CPI(ML) has termed it as gross violation of democracy and constitutional parliamentary norms, the way BJP-NDA regime managed to get vote of confidence passed in a haste in Jharkhand Assembly on March 15.

The mandate in Jharkhand was in fact against the four year long anti-people, genocidal rule of NDA. However, first they managed a manufactured majority by bribing independents with ministerial berths and then in the assembly they suppressed the genuine issues raised by the opposition in most undemocratic manner and imposed their govt. against the popular will of the Jharkhandi people.

Party General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has said in press communique that CPI(ML) will go to the masses against the commencement of this second innings of BJP-NDA regime in this undemocratic manner, against the wishes of the Jharkhandi people and combat it through popular mobilisation of toiling masses and the left-democratic opinion against it.

Killer Modi Go Back!

The stigmatised Chief Minister of Gujarat came to Kolkata on 13 March to address a seminar on Uniform Civil Code organised by The Telegraph. Around 150 CPI(ML) activists gathered in front of Birla Planetarium in the afternoon, held a street corner meeting denouncing Narendra Modi and proceeded toward Kolkata Club, the venue of the Seminar. The police stopped them en route, but comrades were determined to go forward. A scuffle ensued and comrades were brutally beaten up. 16 comrades were taken into custody. But the message of our protest  spread far and wide and evoked appreciation from democratic personages like noted singer Kabir Suman.

Zamin Adhikar Rally - Blockade of State Assembly by CPI(ML) in Orissa

Orissa State Committee of CPI(ML) organised an impressive "Zamin Adhikar Rally" on March 4 demanding a special session on the Assembly on land question.

Impressive and colourful rally, with massive participation of rural poor, specially of tribals of south and west Orissa once again proves the growing image and influence of the party and its activities throughout the state, particularly among the struggling masses. It was an attempt by the party towards making the land question a central issue and and presenting itself as the vanguard of land struggle in the state. The rally was well covered by the media in the state.

CPI(ML) accused the ruling parties of the state responsible for the backwardness and poverty of Orissa by neglecting the agriculture on which 80 percent of the population in the state depend for their livelihood.

As the land question is the main problem in agricultural arena, party demands a special session of the State Assembly on this issue to review the legislation on the land and for an effective, progressive and pro-poor land reform legislation. The party also demanded to seize ceiling surplus lands, to vacate government owned, public and forest lands under the occupation of vested interests and to distribute it among the landless poor. It also demanded for reinstallation of alienated tribal lands.

It was also demanded through the rally for more irrigation facility in the state, implementation of minimum wages and employment guarantee throughout the year for the agricultural labourers. Question of fishing rights solely to the native fishermen and employment guarantee to all unemployed in the state was also raised. Party has also supported demands of Siksha Sahayaks and teachers of govt. run colleges. The demands for withdrawal of cases imposed on Party activists during various struggles and an stop to police repression of activists were also raised.

Party Polit Bureau member Akhilendra Pratap Singh called upon the people for continuous and heroic struggles on issues like land question, unemployment and wages. Kshitish Biswal, CPI(ML) State Secretary, Radhakant Sethy, Jagat Pradhan, Ashok Pradhan, Bidyadhar Patra, Tirupati Gomango, Ajey Mandhata, Satyabadi Behera, Sabita Baraj and Matsyajibi Mahasangh leader Balaram Das also addressed the rally. CPI(ML) Polit Bureau member D. P. Buxi and CC member M. Maleshwar Rao were also present on the dias. A delegation led by Comrade Kshitish Biswal met the Chief Minister and discussed with him on the demands.

Edited, published and printed by S. Bhattacharya for CPI(ML) Liberation from U-90, Shakarpur, Delhi-92; printed at Bol Publication,
R-18/2, Ramesh Park, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi-92; Phone:22521067; fax: 22518248, e-mail: mlupdate@cpiml.org, website: www.cpiml.org