Vol. 11, Issue : 1
January 2019
Intensifying Class Struggles is the only way out!
The elections to the five state assemblies had
completed with the defeat of BJP governments in
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and
the regional parties coming to power in Telangana
and Manipur. The Congress was able to capture power
in three states it made a poor show in Telangana.
These elections took place after four and a half
years rule by the BJP at the centre. The demonitisation,
followed by the imposition of GST had devastated
the peasant economy and manufacturing sectors,
particularly small scale industries, which is the
backbone of manufacturing and employment in India.
Consequently agricultural crisis deepened further.
The economy could not generate employment
opportunities. This is the result of continuation of the
implementation of imperialist dictats by the Narendra
Modi government.
To divert the attention of people from these anti-
people policies, the BJP raked up communal hatred
with gau raksha, love jihad and brutal attacks on
religious minorities. More than 100 incidents of killing
and arson occurred during the BJP rule in the name
of saving Hinduism. The fascistic type of propaganda
and methods were adopted to crush the opposition
to these policies.
During these more than four years, the BJP did
not attempt to solve even a single problem faced by
various classes such as agricultural crisis,
unemployment, rather it intensified them further. The
people are seething with discontent and anger. It got
expressed in the massive demonstrations by farmers
and workers demanding resolution of their problems.
In this context, the elections to five state
assemblies came as a prelude to the general elections
to the Parliament to be held in 2019. The main
opposition party the Congress took up corruption
under BJP rule and agrarian ‘distress’ as the main
plank of its election campaign. It unabashedly blamed
BJP for all ills knowing well that these were the
continuation of policies pursued by it. One clear
example is GST.
During the last elections many state governments
announced loan waiver to farmers. This time also all
the parties announced loan waiver and hike of
Minimum support price to some degree or other. Here
the ruling class parties are not for the resolution of
agrarian crisis. Their policies are aimed at alienating
the peasantry from their land to hand over it to the
corporate farming. At the same time they use the
high sounding schemes only to make the peasantry
believe in the so-called development path charted
by them.
After the elections and as part of preparations
for coming Lok Sbha elections, the ruling class parties
are playing the same card. The Congress party came
out with a promise to implement loam waiver to farmers
if it comes to power at the centre. According to news
reports the BJP is contemplating to formulate a
scheme in the lines of that implemented by the
Telangana government that is, giving input
assistance to the farmers.
Narendra Modi showed one-up-man ship when
he made his cabinet to approve 10 per cent
reservations in education and employment to
economically weaker sections. As the employment
opportunities are dwindling in the organized sector
and government sector and as the criterion for the
economically weaker section encompasses almost
Organ of the Central Committee of CPI(ML)