A DISTURBING feature of the CPI(M)’s performance to the 17th Lok Sabha election is the continuing fall in the overall voting percentage of the Party. This is mainly due to the sharp drop in the vote share of the Party in West Bengal and Tripura and to a lesser extent in Kerala.
ALL indications are that the second term of the Modi government will mark a further reinforcement of its role as a junior partner of the United States. This will, in turn, quicken the implementation of the neoliberal agenda and the consequent adverse impact on the lives of the people.
SOME mainstream newspapers have carried editorials announcing the demise of the CPI(M) and the Left. They have pronounced judgement that the “Left is over” or that the Left is in terminal decline.
Such obituaries have come in the wake of the severe defeat of the CPI(M) and the Left in the Lok Sabha election. The editorial verdicts have come on the basis that the CPI(M) and the Left have got no seats in West Bengal and Tripura and only one seat in Kerala.
THE 17th Lok Sabha elections have resulted in the BJP and the NDA getting a decisive majority and the return of the Modi government to power. The BJP has won an increased majority and the NDA has increased its overall tally.
NOT a day passes in this election campaign without Narendra Modi attacking the mahagatbandhan or opposition alliance as a `mahamilavat’ (great adulteration) and depicting them as a bunch of power hungry opportunists.
THE aerial bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli armed forces is the latest piece of aggression in the ongoing attacks by Israel on the two million Palestinian people caged within this narrow strip of land. The current flare-up came after a skirmish on the border where Palestinians had assembled to demonstrate on Friday (May 3) against the Israeli policies of blockade and siege of Gaza.
THE crisis that has gripped the Supreme Court in recent times has been further aggravated by the way in which the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and the Supreme Court have handled the accusation of sexual harassment leveled against the CJI himself in a written complaint made by a former Supreme Court employee, copies of which were given to all members of the Court. As a consequence, every effort should have been made to ensure complete transparency in the matter. But this was precisely what was not done.
THE Election Commission performs a vital role in the parliamentary democratic system in India. The Commission is the body authorised by the Constitution to conduct free and fair elections. Article 324 (1) of the Constitution empowers the Commission with: “The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to Parliament and to the Legislature of every state...”.
PRAGYA Singh Thakur’s nomination as the BJP candidate from Bhopal constituency marks a significant and ominous moment in the 17th Lok Sabha election. This decision of the BJP is a declaration of its real platform for this election – an unapologetic hardline Hindutva with all its negative implications.
THE electoral bonds scheme which came into effect in March 2018 is a brazen and opaque method to funnel corporate funds, kickbacks and black money into the ruling party’s coffers.
That is why the CPI(M) challenged the scheme and the amendments made in the relevant laws in the Supreme Court. The Association for Democratic Reforms also petitioned the Court to strike down the scheme. The CPI(M) was the only party to declare that it will not accept electoral bonds.
