[Marxistindia] Polit Bureau Communique

[news from the cpi(m)]

June 10, 2024

 

Press Communique

 

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New Delhi
on June 9. It has issued the following statement:

 

Elections to the 18th Lok Sabha

 

The results of the elections to the 18th Lok Sabha constitute a significant
setback for the BJP. The people of India, asserting their defence of the
Constitution and the secular democratic character of the republic, have
deprived the BJP of a majority it had secured in the last two Lok Sabha
elections of 2014 and 2019. Having campaigned to reach a figure of 400 plus,
the BJP's tally is now 240 seats, 63 fewer than the 303 seats it held in the
outgoing Lok Sabha. This is over a 20 percent reduction. The BJP is now 32
seats short of a majority on its own. However, with its allies winning an
additional 52 seats, the NDA has 292 seats, which is 20 more than the
required majority.

The INDIA bloc parties have together won 234 seats, 38 seats short of a
majority. ECI data shows that all the constituencies of the NDA put together
got 43.31 per cent of the votes polled. The constituents of the INDIA bloc
got 41.69 per cent. The difference of vote share between both the
combinations is less than 2 per cent.   

These elections were held amid widespread attacks on the opposition parties,
brazen misuse of Central agencies, and massive use of money power. The
run-up to the elections saw two chief ministers jailed, and bank accounts of
political parties like the Congress and CPI(M) (in one district in Kerala)
frozen. Opposition parties like the NCP and the Shiv Sena were targeted and
split through the use of money power and threats and intimidation by Central
agencies. The BJP resorted to all sorts of political manouvres to divide the
opposition and succeeded in wooing back the JD(U) to the NDA fold.

The results would have been more adverse for the BJP and the NDA if the
Election Commission had ensured a level playing field. The Election
Commission's role was complicit in advancing the BJP's agenda. Its abject
failure, in fact, refusal, to curb the inflammatory communal rhetoric of
Modi and many BJP leaders rendered the Model Code of Conduct infructuous.
Its initial reluctance to disclose the data on votes polled raised
suspicions of manipulation, which severely undermined the standing of this
Constitutional authority.

The BJP exercised total control over large sections of the media to
propagate only its viewpoint. This was reflected in the highly exaggerated
Exit Polls. With a complicit corporate media, the BJP spent a huge amount of
resources for spreading its narrative and disinformation through the social
media. It used its massive money power to influence voting patterns and, in
many places, distributed thousands of crores of rupees directly to voters.

INDIA bloc parties focused on the issues of people's livelihoods, such as
unemployment, price rise, agrarian distress, etc., apart from highlighting
the threats to our Constitution, democracy, and civil liberties. The massive
struggles conducted by all sections of our people on their livelihood
issues, especially the kisan struggles, significantly contributed to the
results. In the farming belts in five states of Maharashtra, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Haryana, and Western UP, BJP lost 38 of its sitting seats. Rural
India reacted against the Modi government's destruction of their
livelihoods, which saw rural real wages remaining stagnant throughout the
Modi decade. It has been estimated that in 159 rural constituencies, people
voted for change.

Despite being deprived of an absolute majority on its own, the efforts to
reestablish Modi's hegemony will continue to strengthen. INDIA bloc parties
will have to remain vigilant to resolutely oppose and defeat all efforts to
strengthen Hindutva authoritarian tendencies and the Hindutva-corporate
nexus and to safeguard secular democracy, people's livelihood, economic
sovereignty, social justice, and federalism. The struggle against Hindutva
authoritarianism using fascistic methods will have to be strengthened
further in the days to come. This has to be done both inside and outside the
Parliament. 

Left's Performance

Left parties have marginally improved their presence in the Lok Sabha with 8
MPs [CPI(M) 4, CPI 2, CPI (ML) 2].

The Polit Bureau expressed disappointment at the CPI(M)'s performance,
especially in Kerala. An in-depth introspection will be undertaken by the
Party on the basis of the reviews conducted by the respective state Party
units. 

NEET examination

Various irregularities and complaints in the conduct of the NEET exam have
surfaced. The conduct of these exams by the National Testing Agency (NTA) is
found seriously wanting. Such centralization of education is contrary to the
spirit of our Constitution which places education in the concurrent list.
Total bypassing of the state governments is unacceptable. 

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) demands that a proper investigation be
conducted in matters connected with the recent NEET exam. 

 

 

(Muralidharan)

For CPI(M) Central Committee Office

 

 

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