THESE days are terrifying for college and university campuses in Kerala. A series of attacks on SFI activists has taken place across the state in the past one month. The ABVP, with the active support of the RSS and the BJP, has been in the forefront of most of these incidents, posing an open threat to democracy on campuses. A number of SFI leaders braved murder attempts. In the past two weeks, more than 30 SFI activists were attacked by these goons.

THE Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University every year organises seminars under the Dr Ambedkar Study Centre of the University, which is supposed to be an autonomous body. This year on March 18-19, 2017, a two day seminar was organised on the subject “Decay of Democracy – Challenges and Solutions”. It was decided that this seminar would be inaugurated by Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the CPI(M). Invitation cards were printed and distributed, the press was informed and the university even sent flight tickets to Yechury a month ago.

A UNIQUE exercise in Party education and exchange of ideas among comrades took place in West Bengal on March 19, when study circles were organised in Party branches throughout the state. The agenda of the study circle was Party Programme.  

A FORTNIGHT before the results to the Uttar Pradesh and other four state assemblies were declared, the same rightwing offensive was evident in the elections to 10 municipal corporations (MC), 25 zilla parishads (ZP) and 283 panchayat samitis (PS) in Maharashtra. These elections took place last month and the results were declared on February 23.

THE OVERALL PICTURE

THE budget of 2017-18 is an expression of the commitment of the government of Kerala to take bold and imaginative decisions in the service of the people, despite resource constraints and the inequalities of centre-state financial relations.