Monday, May 25, 2009

[Marxistindia] Cyclone Aila Hits West Bengal

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
May 26, 2009


Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued
the following statement:


The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses
deep concern at the loss of life and property caused by Cyclone Aila
that lashed Kolkata and some districts of West Bengal on May 25. Scores
of people have been killed and more than a lakh rendered homeless.


The Polit Bureau conveys its heartfelt condolences to the families of
the bereaved and expresses its sympathies with those who have been
affected by the cyclone.


The PB urges upon the Central government to urgently provide all
necessary assistance to the state government to help in rescue relief
and rehabilitation operations.


The Polit Bureau appeals to the people to contribute their might to help
mobilise resources for the cyclone affected people. Contributions may be
made to the West Bengal Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

eom


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[Marxistindia] Sitaram Yechury's Interview

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
Given below is the full transcript of the interview given by Sitaram
Yechury to Karan Thapar for the programme Devil's Advocate which was
telecast on May 24, 2009

Karan Thapar: Prakash Karat has accepted that the election results are a
major setback, but the truth is actually much worse than that. Can you
deny that this is the worst electoral performance in your party's
45-year-history?

Sitaram Yechury: Not at all. I don't deny it. This is the worst debacle
we have had. Soon after we were formed in 64, the first election we
contested in 1967 we won 19 seats--today we won 16.

Karan Thapar: So you have literally gone back below your starting point.

Sitaram Yechury: And this is a serious matter. It is a matter which the
politburo has admitted is a very big debacle and we have to understand
why this happened and seriously introspect.

Karan Thapar: Let's for a moment pause over the statistics of your
performance. You have gone from your best ever electoral perfomance to
your worst ever in just five straight years. This time around you have
lost 63 percent of the seats you had, or to put it differently you have
lost 68 percent more seats than you have won. Those statistics are
worrying and actually they are appalling.

Sitaram Yechury: Statistics are statistics and you can always manipulate
them but that is not the point. The fact is that you cannot escape from
this reality that this has been a very big debacle for us. It's been the
worst performance electorally by the party.

Karan Thapar: Let's then come to why you did so badly. To begin with,
can you accept that breaking with the UPA (United Progressive Alliance)
was a mistake? The voters didn't understand why you did it and worst of
all it made CPI-M look like a party which was promoting instability.

Sitaram Yechury: All these issues we have decided will be
discussed--both national and state-level issues—introspected upon and a
very serious, honest, self-critical review will be made by us.

Karan Thapar: Let me quote to you what your defeated MPs are saying.
Prashant Pradhan, your defeated MP from Kontai, says: "People have not
taken kindly to the withdrawal of support from the UPA government. The
poor and the farmers never understood why we wanted to topple the
government."

Sitaram Yechury: You see these are points of views which have come
across. As I said all issues will be discussed by us and on all of them
we will come to some honest, self-critical conclusion.

Karan Thapar: Let me quote to you Amitabh Nandi, a defeated MP from
Dumdum. He says: "From day one of withdrawing support from UPA our
slogans, our activities have proved we are against stability."

Sitaram Yechury: These are opinions that have come and as I said all
these issues will be discussed thoroughly and that process has already
begun. By the middle of June I think we will come to our conclusion.

Karan Thapar: But can you accept that these are very valid opinions?

Sitaram Yechury: These issues will be discussed, definitely.

Karan Thapar: These are not inexperienced, foolish people talking. These
are some of your most senior, cherished MPs, now defeated. They know
what they are talking about.

Sitaram Yechury: They have been our leaders in Parliament. There is no
way we are going to discount anything anybody says within the party.
Everything will be taken seriously and discussed.

Karan Thapar: Now the second problem with breaking with the UPA was that
you forced the Congress into the arms of the Trinamool Congress, thus
creating a coalition that was able to attract the anti-Left votes in
West Bengal at a time when you were yourself suffering from Nandigram,
Singur and beginning to realise that the Muslim population could be
disaffected. Rather than divide your opponents you ended up uniting and
strengthening them

Sitaram Yechury: But remember that the Congress and the Trinamool always
had a ground-level understanding even without an alliance. What happened
this time was that the de facto converted itself into de jure.

Karan Thapar: Which was a disaster for you.

Sitaram Yechury: This had its impact, definitely. There's no doubt about
it. We anticipated that this would have an impact on the marginal seats,
but there are other reasons why this defeat has occurred in Bengal and
those have to be seriously examined.

Karan Thapar: Absolutely. No one denies there are other reasons in
Bengal. But given those other reasons, the worst tactic for you was to
unite your opponents on a single platform. You should have divided them,
not united them.

Sitaram Yechury: Like I said we will review all of this.

Karan Thapar: But can you accept this was bad tactics?

Sitaram Yechury: Not just this, all other questions will be discussed
and reviewed. All that I can say right now is that on any one of these
issues we have not come to any conclusive decision.

Karan Thapar: But you accept that given that you already had problems in
Bengal, devising a strategy that unites your opponents was a pretty
silly thing to do?

Sitaram Yechury: But it could well be that our opponents were going to
unite any way?

Karan Thapar: Maybe but you prodded them into it. If you hadn't broken
with Congress they might not have gone with Trinamool and then you would
have faced a divided opposition not a united one.

Sitaram Yechury: In the last elections, remember, of the 61 Left MPs 54
came to the Lok Sabha defeating Congress candidates. So going into
elections with the Congress was never the issue.

Karan Thapar: But the problem was that this time, by breaking with the
UPA, you pushed the Congress into the arms of the TMC and thus created a
platform of unity against you which otherwise would have been two
divided parties.

Sitaram Yechury: That is the reason why I am saying that what was de
facto has become de jure.

Karan Thapar: And that was a disaster.

Sitaram Yechury: We will review that.

Karan Thapar: Is it true that Jyoti Basu advised the CPI-M leadership
not to break with the UPA?

Sitaram Yechury: He may have had his opinions within the committees but
there is no advice that has come to us.

Karan Thapar: What opinion did he express in the committees?

Sitaram Yechury: That I can't tell you. That is something which even he
won't tell you.

Karan Thapar: Can I infer that within the committees he expressed a
measure of dissent about breaking with the UPA?

Sitaram Yechury: You see breaking from the UPA was not a one-time
decision or which happened one-off. It was a series of developments
which were taking place as a result of which it culminated in our
withdrawing support. On various steps in this process he had some issues
to tell us which he told.

Karan Thapar: So there were various moments when he expressed his
opinion; there were issues he had to speak about which he did speak
about.

Sitaram Yechury: Yes, definitely. Inside the party all of us will give
our opinion but once we collectively decide that is our party matter.

Karan Thapar: Thank you, I think you have said it all. You can't confirm
it but within the party at various stages he had opinions to express and
he did express them.

Sitaram Yechury: He conveyed what he felt at a number of times.

Karan Thapar: He conveyed what he felt at a number of times, not (just)
once or twice.

Sitaram Yechury: Even today he does.

Karan Thapar: The second biggest mistake was in fact the Third Front. We
all knew what it didn't stand for--it was anti-Congress, anti-BJP--but
no one actually knew what it stood for. As a result of which it lacked
credibility and it projected negativity.

Sitaram Yechury: We in the politburo have come to the conclusion that
the Third Front …. you understand how this Third Front emerged? It was
state-level alliances in various states. Now this was brought together
as a national alternative, which people obviously found had neither
credibility or viability. Both were lacking. Thus the result. That is
what we have accepted.

Karan Thapar:Finish the sentence you half began before you interrupted
yourself: "We in the Politburo have to come a conclusion about the Third
Front" and then you stopped. What is that conclusion?

Sitaram Yechury: That it was neither viable nor credible.

Karan Thapar: Would you therefore say that it was a mistake?

Sitaram Yechury: The way it was projected was a mistake. I'll tell you
why. The CPI-M always had this opinion, which we still continue to have,
that India requires a third political alternative. This third political
alternative will have to bring about a shift in the policy trajectory in
the country. But that cannot be a cut-and-paste job on the eve of
elections.

Karan Thapar: This was a hastily put together cut-and-paste job?

Sitaram Yechury: A cut-and-paste job, and to achieve our objective of a
third alternative there are no short cuts. It will have to be done
through sustained, prolonged, popular struggles. .

Karan Thapar: This was an attempt at putting together a Third Front, not
just by cut and paste but by short-cut methods and that was a mistake.

Sitaram Yechury: Yes. That is something which will be a subject of our
review in the central committee (of the CPI-M).

Karan Thapar: But in fact it was not just the projection of the Third
Front, it was not just the haste and the cut-and-paste manner in which
it was put together. Even the composition of the Third Front was wrong.
To begin with, almost all its members were former BJP allies. Two of
them, Jayalalithaa and Mayawati, face serious charges of corruption. As
a result of its composition this front undermined your cherished
principles of probity and secularism. These people should have never
been your allies.

Sitaram Yechury: That is why in retrospect we are saying that people
didn't find it credible. They did not find this front credible.

Karan Thapar: No doubt the people did not find it credible. The election
results prove that. But can you accept that at a prior stage you chose
the wrong allies? You should not have approached people like
Jayalalithaa, like Mayawati.

Sitaram Yechury: In the states we had electoral understandings--with
Jayalalithaa it was an understanding in Tamil Nadu; with the TDP it was
an understanding in Andhra Pradesh. But we brought all this together as
a national alternative. That did not find credibility with the people.

Karan Thapar: You're accepting that projecting a state level
understanding into a national understanding was a mistake. But even at
the state level it was a mistake. Just look at the speed with which
Jayalalithaa left you. She left you immediately after the elections and
before the counting. The TRS left you after the voting and before the
counting. As soon as the counting was over the JD-S and the BSP left
you. They showed no loyalty to you at the state or national level.

Sitaram Yechury: The AIADMK has not left us formally, but you are right
about the BSP, JD-S and TRS. That is precisely the point I am
making--the front was neither credible nor viable. This (election
result) has only confirmed that.

Karan Thapar: One other thing. At a time when the country was yearning
for a strong and stable government, no one believed that the Third Front
could offer it and more importantly the prospect of Mayawati as Prime
Minister put a lot of people off, maybe even frightened them.

Sitaram Yechury: I don't think it was only a question of stability that
people wanted. If it was stability then they would have found little to
choose between the UPA and the NDA. They wanted stability with a
commitment to the secular, democratic foundations of India. This was the
combination which they found the Third Front lacked the credibility to
give. And Commitment to secular, democratic foundations the NDA would
never give. Hence the result.

Karan Thapar: The reason you lacked credibility in terms of secular
foundations of India is not just because of the composition of the Third
Front. But if you look at what your party did in Kerala your alliance
with (PDP leader) A N Madhani was another mistake.

Sitaram Yechury: There was no alliance with Madhani.

Karan Thapar: Your own local partymen in Kerala have called it an
alliance and say it is a mistake.

Sitaram Yechury: In Kerala, not only Madhani, various other issues that
have impacted on these elections, all of them will be reviewed.

Karan Thapar: Let us briefly talk about the manner in which your two
bastions--of West Bengal and Kerala--undermined your performance. To
begin with, how did you permit yourself to go into an election when your
entire Kerala unit was not just feuding but acrimoniously tearing itself
apart?

Sitaram Yechury: But remember in Kerala this sort of situation prevailed
in the 2006 elections and that time there were street-level
demonstrations (as well).

Karan Thapar: Except that the situation had got much worse. On the eve
of elections your state secretariat wanted V S Achutanandan removed as
Chief Minister.

Sitaram Yechury: No, that was not true. That was only a media-created
rumour. But the point is in 2006 what was seen as acrimony between our
leaders resulted in a two-third majority victory in the Assembly.

Karan Thapar: Except that by 2009 you were no longer the beneficiary of
doubts in the minds of the people. They were convinced by then 3 years
of feuding meant that you were tearing yourself apart and you were
allying with people like Madani. You were losing credibility.

Sitaram Yechury: Remember the elections in 2009 were for the Central
government not state government. In Kerala and Bengal people are very
conscious, they know what choices they want and whom they want where
(i.e. at the Centre).

Karan Thapar: Alright let me quote to you Hanan Mollah, one of your
defeated MPs. This is what he told several papers: "We have been
severely punished. Did we lose touch with ground reality?" What is your
answer to that question?

Sitaram Yechury: That is precisely what we are examining. That is the
answer we will give in our Central Committee when we meet in June.

Karan Thapar: What is your hunch? You are a political man, no doubt a
definitive answer will come after the analysis but what is your
instinct?

Sitaram Yechury: Obviously we have lost touch otherwise this sort of
result would not have come. But to what degree, why we lost touch, what
were the inadequacies, that is something we are seriously examining.

Karan Thapar: But you agree that you lost touch?

Sitaram Yechury: Of course, the results show that.

Karan Thapar: Let's take a break at that point. In part 2 I want to
discuss the issue: where does responsibility lie. See you after the
break.

Karan Thapar: Welcome back. In part 1 we talked about the reasons why
your party has come to its worst ever electoral debacle. Now let's come
to the question: where does responsibility lie. I want to quote to you
what one of your defeated candidates, Amitabh Nandy, has said. He says:
"When we complete our introspection it will certainly emerge that the
party's top leadership has failed." Would you agree?

Sitaram Yechury: Please understand one thing that this has been a very
big debacle for us. Also understand the fact that this is for the first
time in the last two decades that a secular government is being formed
in India in which the CPI-M has no role. This is a big setback--people,
therefore, are expressing their disappointment. All these sentiments
will be taken into account by us.

Karan Thapar: When you say this is the first time a secular government
is being formed in India for 2 decades without any role or presence of
CPI-M, you are underlining how irrelevant or marginalised you have
become. So let us come back to Amitabh Nandy. Will you accept that the
party's top leadership has failed?

Sitaram Yechury: That is what we are examining. Of course the top
leadership of the party will have to take the leaderships role, I mean
play the leaderships role. That it will.

Karan Thapar: Will the question when you do your examination be raised:
has the leadership failed? Will that question be raised?

Sitaram Yechury: Of course it will come. Of course it will be discussed.
Remember a Communist party functions by what we call the Leninist
principles of organisation, where it is collective functioning with
individual responsibility.

Karan Thapar: Both the collective functioning of the leadership will be
inquired into as well as the issue of individual responsibility?

Sitaram Yechury: Of course. Yes. All of this will come in to the review.
Definitely.

Karan Thapar: Your allies have absolutely no compunction at all in
pointing the finger of blame straight at the Delhi leadership of CPI-M.
Debabrata Biswas has done it, Abani Roy has done it and now increasingly
A B Bardhan is doing it. They say the CPI-M leadership was arrogant and
it had lost touch with the masses.

Sitaram Yechury: We have also heard these comments but all of them were
party to all the decisions that were taken together in the Left parties'
meeting.

Karan Thapar: No doubt but is there any truth in their claim that your
leadership was arrogant?

Sitaram Yechury: If our allies are saying all this we will definitely
take that into account in our review. Definitely.

Karan Thapar: You won't turn a deaf ear?

Sitaram Yechury: No, definitely not.

Karan Thapar: You won't sweep it under the carpet?

Sitaram Yechury: No, it is for our own survival to get back the people
who have been alienated from us and to advance further that we have to
be candid, honest and rigorously honest in this self-critical
examination.

Karan Thapar: If you want to be candid and rigorously honest then I put
this to you: after facing a similar disastrous electoral performance, L
K Advani offered his resignation to the BJP as Leader of Opposition. Why
in similar circumstances in the CPI-M has Prakash Karat not found fit to
make a similar gesture?

Sitaram Yechury: Leader of Opposition is a position in Parliament and
that Parliament has ceased--the 14th Lok Sabha. And that Parliament has
ceased to be. So whether he resigns or not that Parliament has finished.

Karan Thapar: We are talking about the need for candidness, for
transparency and for winning back the people you have lost. Surely
therefore Prakash Karat must make the gesture of accepting
responsibility as General Secretary.

Sitaram Yechury: The point again here is that it will have to be a
collective assessment that we will make of these results, of why these
results have resulted in this sort of manner. And remember, resignation
also can be escape from responsibilities.

Karan Thapar: You said a very interesting thing. A collective assessment
will be made.

Sitaram Yechury: Yes.

Karan Thapar: Now your Central Committee is due to meet in June. At that
meeting what are the chances that Prakash Karat will either step down
voluntarily or be stripped of his responsibilities.

Sitaram Yechury: Again let me tell you the Central Committee is going to
discuss the reasons for our debacle.

Karan Thapar: And they are going into the question of leadership?

Sitaram Yechury: Leadership of course. In that process. But it will not
be on the basis of who is going to resign or not--that is not the issue.
The issue is what are the mistakes, why were they committed and how can
they be corrected.

Karan Thapar: But can you rule out the possibility of Prakash Karat
accepting responsibility at that stage and resigning?

Sitaram Yechury: The Central Committee, as I said, will comprehensively
review. Beyond that I cannot go today.

Karan Thapar: Let me put this to you. There is no doubt that the two
issues on which you ended up losing seats were the break with the UPA
and creation of a less than credible Third Front. Of both those Prakash
Karat was the central architect. Is it not therefore the case that, as
the Press is saying, he has the greatest measure of direct
responsibility for this defeat?

Sitaram Yechury: Prakash Karat is the General Secretary of the CPI-M.
These were the decisions of the CPI-M and he as General Secretary will
articulate these decisions, naturally.

Karan Thapar: In most organisations when things go wrong the man at the
top takes the responsibility.

Sitaram Yechury: But I think that is also one way of escaping
responsibility.

Karan Thapar: Are you going to hold him to the job to punish him rather
than let him go?

Sitaram Yechury: It is not a question of an individual. As I said, we
will collectively assess what are our mistakes.

Karan Thapar: And therefore if you are going to collectively assess, his
future depends on the outcome and decisions of the central committee.

Sitaram Yechury: Well, the future of the party depends on it.

Karan Thapar: Absolutely. I think with that you've said it all. My
thanks for this interview.


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Monday, May 18, 2009

[Marxistindia] resending statement with minor corrections

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)

May 19, 2009


Press Statement


The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New
Delhi on May 18, 2009. It has issued the following statement:


On Lok Sabha Polls


The 15th Lok Sabha elections have resulted in the success of the
Congress and its allies and they are in a position to form the
government. The Congress party has won 61 more seats than the 2004
elections and has got an increased vote share of around 3 per cent
according to provisional figures. The BJP has suffered a comprehensive
defeat after failing for the second successive time in its bid to come
to power with its allies. The BJP tally has come down by 22 seats and
its vote share has fallen by around 2.9 per cent. Thus the loss suffered
by the BJP vote share has more or less gone to the Congress. It should
be noted that both the parties together have polled less than 49 per
cent of the vote just like in the 2004 elections.


What stood the Congress in good stead were some of the measures adopted
by the UPA government like the NREGA, the Forest Tribal Act and other
social welfare measures which were pushed through under Left pressure.


The Congress party also gained more support amongst the minorities and
sections of secular minded people who were keen to ensure that the BJP
does not make a comeback.


The BJP has been rejected by the people as it could not offer anything
beyond its communal agenda combined with rightwing economic policies
which the people had already spurned in 2004. The rabid communal
rhetoric of the likes of Varun Gandhi and Narendra Modi dominated its
election campaign.


The Left parties had allied with certain non-Congress, non-BJP parties
in various states. This was required so that a secular electoral
alternative emerged. However, these alliances forged in some states on
the eve of the elections were not seen by the people as a credible and
viable alternative at the national level.


The serious reverses suffered by the CPI(M) and the Left parties in West
Bengal and Kerala are of deep concern. The CPI(M) has lost 25 sitting
seats from these two states. The CPI(M) has won 16 seats with a vote
share of 5.52 per cent which is marginally less than the 5.66 per cent
it got in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. There should be a serious
examination of the reasons for these reverses. Both national and state
specific factors are responsible for the poor performance. A
self-critical review will be conducted by the concerned state committees
and the Central Committee which should form the basis for corrective
steps. The Party will make all out efforts to regain the support and
confidence of those sections of the people who have been alienated.


The Polit Bureau congratulated the people of Tripura for giving a
massive victory to the two CPI(M)-Left Front candidates for the Lok
Sabha. It is remarkable that the Left Front could establish a lead in
all the 60 assembly segments of the state.


Accepting the people's verdict, the CPI(M) and the Left parties will
work as a responsible opposition in parliament. The country is faced
with serious economic difficulties which have a direct bearing on the
people's livelihood and well being. The new government has to address
this issue urgently and squarely. The CPI(M) will be vigilant in
defending the interests of the people. It will work for strengthening
the unity of the Left parties and will continue the cooperation with
other secular parties in the opposition.

end


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[Marxistindia] Polit Bureau communique

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)

May 19, 2009


Press Statement


The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New
Delhi on May 18, 2009. It has issued the following statement:


The 15th Lok Sabha elections have resulted in the success of the
Congress and its allies and they are in a position to form the
government. The Congress party has won 61 more seats than the 2004
elections and has got an increased vote share of around 3 per cent
according to provisional figures. The BJP has suffered a comprehensive
defeat after failing for the second successive time in its bid to come
to power with its allies. The BJP tally has come down by 22 seats and
its vote share has fallen by around 2.9 per cent. Thus the loss suffered
by the BJP vote share has more or less gone to the Congress. It should
be noted that both the parties together have polled less than 49 per
cent of the vote just like in the 2004 elections.


Some of the measures adopted by the Congress-led UPA government which
stood the Congress in good stead were steps like the NREGA, the Forest
Tribal Act and other social welfare measures which were pushed through
under Left pressure.


The Congress party also gained more support amongst the minorities and
sections of secular minded people who were keen to ensure that the BJP
does not make a comeback.


The BJP has been rejected by the people as it could not offer anything
beyond its communal agenda combined with rightwing economic policies
which the people had already spurned in 2004. The rabid communal
rhetoric of the likes of Varun Gandhi and Narendra Modi dominated its
election campaign.


The Left parties had allied with certain non-Congress, non-BJP parties
in various states. This was required so that a secular electoral
alternative emerged. However, these alliances forged in some states on
the eve of the elections were not seen by the people as a credible and
viable alternative at the national level.


The serious reverses suffered by the CPI(M) and the Left parties in West
Bengal and Kerala are of deep concern. The CPI(M) has lost 25 sitting
seats from these two states. The CPI(M) has won 16 seats with a vote
share of 5.52 per cent which is marginally less than the 5.66 per cent
it got in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. There should be a serious
examination of the reasons for these reverses. Both national and state
specific factors are responsible for the poor performance. A
self-critical review will be conducted by the concerned state committees
and the Central Committee which should form the basis for corrective
steps. The Party will make all out efforts to regain the support and
confidence of those sections of the people who have been alienated.


The Polit Bureau congratulated the people of Tripura for giving a
massive victory to the two CPI(M)-Left Front candidates for the Lok
Sabha. It is remarkable that the Left Front could establish a lead in
all the 60 assembly segments of the state.


The CPI(M) and the Left parties will work as a responsible opposition in
parliament. The country is faced with serious economic difficulties
which have a direct bearing on the people's livelihood and well being.
The new government has to address this issue urgently and squarely. The
CPI(M) will be vigilant in defending the interests of the people. It
will work for strengthening the unity of the Left parties and will
continue the cooperation with other secular parties in the opposition.

end


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[Marxistindia] violence in West Bengal

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)

May 18, 2009


Press Statement


The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued
the following statement


Polit Bureau Condemns Pre and Post Poll Violence in Bengal


The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the series of attacks
against Party cadre and sympathizers in West Bengal by the Trinamool
Congress and in some areas by Congress workers which have been
accelerated in the post poll period. Two comrades, including a Forward
Bloc worker have been killed in the post poll period and hundreds have
been attacked and houses burnt. Women and children have not been spared.
Earlier, 26 comrades had been killed in the period between March 7 and
May 13. Three electoral officers were also killed by Maoists in a
landmine blast. After the polls a police officer was also killed by
these armed groups.


The aim behind the violence unleashed primarily by the TMC is to
terrorise CPI(M) supporters and drive them out from selected areas, to
create lawlessness in the State, deliberately provoke intervention of
the police with the undemocratic aim to destabilize the elected state
Government and prevent it from working to implement pro-people
policies.


These highly condemnable anti-democratic acts must be foiled. Elected
members of the TMC and Congress from West Bengal are presumably going to
be members of the Central Government. They have to ensure that the
democratic and constitutional rights are not trampled in the blatant
manner that is being done by their combine in West Bengal.


The Polit Bureau while expressing its grief at the killing of Party
cadres and sympathizers, expresses its confidence that the peace loving
people of West Bengal will foil the conspiracies which seek to recreate
the anarchy and violence of the early seventies.


Some details of the attacks are as follows:


In Murshidabad Parliamentary Constituency Congress miscreants killed
CPI(M) activist Com. Mantaj Sheikh. They unleashed terror in the
Raninagar area in which a police officer, Gopal Mandal was killed.


In Uluberia Parliamentary Constituency of Howrah, the Trinamool
activists attacked the entire areas of Chitnan gram panchayat and looted
and set fire to 43 houses. They tortured women and children. The
affected people are now being shifted to a temporary relief camp.


In Kaliaganj, Malda, thirty houses of party workers have been set on
fire.


In Birbhum Parliamentary Constituency the Trinamool goons attacked Com.
Dhiren Bagdi, MLA of Mahammadbazar Assembly Constituency. Now he is
under treatment in Suri Hospital. At least 15 party workers were injured
in this attack. The Trinamool goons set fire to a party camp office,
party vehicles and the red flags. In different areas of Birbhum like
Mahammadbazar, Murarai, Saintshia attacks are taking place in the name
of victory processions. In South 24-Parganas Falta Assembly constituency
on the day before the elections, TMC goons had physically attacked the
CPI(M) woman MLA Com Chandana Ghosh Dastidar and subjected her to abuse
and humiliation. She had to be hospitalized. Following the election
results she has again been threatened.


The Trinamool activists are continuing attacks in Tamluk, Mahisadal of
East Midnapore district. In Khejuri Trinamool has started its attack by
digging roads, setting fire to police vehicles and forcing poor people
to flee from their homes. Party workers and party offices have been
attacked in Kulpi, Canning and Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district and
Rajarhat and Duttaspukur in North 24 Parganas district.


Reports of Trinamool attack on CPI(M) are coming from various areas of
West Bengal like Sitalkuchi of Coochbehar, Sabang in West Midnapore,
Bhangar in South 24 Parganas, Cooper's Camp area of Nadia etc.


The list of those killed is attached.
List of those Killed in Pre and Post Poll Violence in West Bengal

Date


Place


Name


March 7


Khejuri, Purba Medinipur


Subal Kajli


March 12


Bankura, Joypur Gram
Panchayat


Sayed Ali Bhunia


March 17


Patiram, Dakshin
Dinajpur


Ansar Ali


March 17


Boga, Purba Medinipur


Himadri Patra


March 18


Baharampore, Haridasmati
Panchayat

Bhulaveda, Paschim
Medinipur, Belpahari

Raina, Bardhaman

Titaghar, North 24
Parganas


Gopal Mondal

Durga Desowali

Santosh Mahato

Sohorabdewan

Bijoy Shaw


April 10


Bhulaveda, Paschim
Medinipur, Belpahari


Ashim Mondal


April 21


Salbani, Paschim
Medinipur


Hambir Mandi

Shakti Sen


April 23


Supurdi Gram Panchayat,
Purulia


Baikunta Mahato

Bibhuti Singh Sardar


April 27


Haripal Gram Panchayat,
Hooghly


Bhaben Dhig


April 30


Jhargram


Sanjoy Das, Prasad
Banerjee, Sougata
Karmakar (Electoral
Officers)


May 7


Uluberia, Howrah,
Jangirpur, Murshidabad


Manowar Ali, Chandu
Dalui, Kasinath Mondal


May 8


Bagnan, Howrah


Sk. Saidul, Sk. Babua


May 9


Nandigram, Purba
Medinipur


Abdulla Khan, Sk. Aksar


May 10


Tamluk, Purbo Medinipur


Shawuddin Khan


May 13


Canning, South 24
Parganas


Joynal Mollah


May 15


Bandoan, Purulia


Manu Sing


May 16


Raninagar, Murshidabad

Raninagar, Murshidabad


Mamtaz Shekh

Gopal Mondal (Police)


May 17


Chari Anantapur, Maldah


Arabinda Mondal (FB)


Total number of people killed 31

CPI(M) 26

FB 1

Police 1

Electoral Officers 3

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Sunday, May 17, 2009

[Marxistindia] Left parties on election results

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
May 17, 2009


Press Statement

The leaders of the Left parties, the CPI(M), CPI, AIFB and RSP met in
New Delhi and have issued the following statement:


The Left parties will work as a responsible opposition in parliament.


The Left parties will continue our cooperation with the non-Congress,
non-BJP allies.


In the light of the Lok Sabha election results, it was decided that each
party individually would review the reverses suffered in the elections.
Following this, the Left parties will come to a collective assessment on
how to overcome the shortcomings and move ahead.


The meeting was attended by A.B. Bardhan, Prakash Karat, Debabrata
Biswas, T J Chandrachoodan, Sitaram Yechury, S Ramachandran Pillai, D
Raja and G Devarajan.

end


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Saturday, May 16, 2009

[Marxistindia] On Lok Sabha Election Results

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
May 16, 2009

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued
the following statement:


On Lok Sabha Election Results


The elections to the Lok Sabha have resulted in a victory for the
Congress and its allies who will be in a position to form the new
government.

The CPI(M) and the Left parties have suffered a major set back in these
elections. This necessitates a serious examination of the reasons for
the Party's poor performance.


The CPI(M) will continue its cooperation with the non-Congress, non-BJP
secular parties with whom we have been working.


The CPI(M) assures all those who have reposed faith in the Party in
these elections that we will continue to champion the interests of the
working people, national sovereignty and secularism.


eom


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Thursday, May 7, 2009

[Marxistindia] Memo to ECI -- Conduct Repoll in 50 Booths in Tamluk P.C

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
May 7, 2009


Press Release

Shri Jogendra Sharma, Member, Central Secretariat of the Communist Party
of India (Marxist) met the Dy. Election Commissioner Shri Balakrishnan
this afternoon to appraise him of the incidents of rigging in the
Nandigram area of 210 Nandigram AC under 30 Tamluk Parliamentary
Constituency in West Bengal.


He handed over a memorandum listing out 42 polling booths that were
forcibly captured by hoodlums belonging to the Trinamul Congress. CPI(M)
polling agents were not allowed to enter these booths. Several CPI(M)
workers have suffered injuries in the attacks. It was also pointed out
that the Biman Basu, Secretary of the West Bengal State Committee of the
Party and the Secretary of the Purba Medinipur District Committee had
written to the West Bengal CEO on several occasions detailing the
situation and seeking his intervention to ensure free and fair polls in
the constituency.


The Party has demanded repoll in 50 polling booths in the Tamluk
Parliamentary constituency.

eom


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Friday, May 1, 2009

[Marxistindia] Memos to Chief Election Commissioner

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
May 1, 2009


Press Release


We are releasing two letters addressed to the Chief Election
Commissioner by Brinda Karat, Member, CPI(M) Polit Bureau, today.


The first one pertains to the release of a government advertisement
concerning the new pension scheme, in total violation of the Model Code
of Conduct. The second relates to the rigging of polls in three assembly
segments in the Darjeeling Parliamentary constituency and demand for a
repoll in the affected segments.

*****************

May 1, 2009


The Chief Election Commissioner

Election Commission of India

Nirvachan Sadan

Ashoka Road

New Delhi

Dear sir,


We wish to bring to your notice the advertisement issued by the Pension
Fund Regulatory and Development Authority published in The Hindu today.
This advertisement is a clear violation of the model code of conduct
issued by the Election Commission.


We seek your appropriate intervention in this matter.


Thanking you,


Yours sincerely


(Brinda Karat)

Member, Polit Bureau

********************


Ref No. : BK/2009/II/36
1st May, 2009

The Chief Election Commissioner

Election Commission of India

New Delhi – 110 001

Dear Sir,


This is to draw your attention to the serious complaint of subversion of
democratic rights by the supporters of B.J.P. and G.J.M.M. in three hill
sub-divisions of the Darjeeling Lok Sabha Constituency. Shockingly, the
complaint includes the connivance of certain presiding officers as well
as the strange inaccessibility of observers when their intervention was
required. The CPI(M) candidate Shri. Jibesh Sarkar has made the written
complaint to the Chief Electoral Officer of the West Bengal. I enclose
the copy of the complaint. He has sent a complaint subsequently to the
Chief Election Commissioner.


I believe it is serious enough to warrant intervention from the Election
Commission of India. I do hope you will intervene to take the
appropriate action to ensure re-poll in the affected segments of the
constituency.


Thanking you,


Yours sincerely,


BRINDA KARAT

Member, Polit Bureau

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