After two days of self-introspection, Karat, the party general secretary, retains his hold and instead the West Bengal lobby along with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will now be taking "corrective measures at the organisational and governmental level."
While the major fronts, the CPI-M led LDF and Congress-led UDF have given three and one seat respectively to women, the BJP-led NDA has set aside five seats for their female politicians in the upcoming LS polls.
The Communist Party of India Marxist Politburo has decided to meet in New Delhi soon to take an 'appropriate decision' if the talks between the Left Front and the United Progressive Alliance fail to end the logjam over the India-United States nuclear agreement.The party central committee, in its meeting in Kolkata last week, had authorised the politburo to take a final decision if the UPA government went ahead with the operationalisation of the nuclear deal.
The State Election Commission on Friday informed the Calcutta high court that it has requisitioned 822 companies of central forces for the July 8 panchayat polls in West Bengal.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will not attend the full session of the Communist Party of India(M) extended central committee meeting in Vijayawada. Bhattacharjee's move comes days after Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan's decision to stay away from the meet.
A team of CBI officers reached his residence in south Kolkata's Chetla area along with a large contingent of central forces in the morning, officials said.
He also claimed that the people were asking are all the jobs under Kerala government reserved for cadres and the university jobs for powerful people in Thiruvananthapuram.
There is a proposal from the BJP camp that they would resort to a proportion-based increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats for individual states, based on what they now have. On the face of it, this sounds like a fine argument that those demanding a 'freeze' now cannot oppose without reasons and justification, avers N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
At a time when none in Kerala's Left politics questioned the chief minister's authority, MLA P V Anvar hurled a series of accusations against Pinarayi Vijayan's government, notes Shyam G Menon.
The remarks by the BJP leaders came as 17 opposition parties resolved to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly to defeat the saffron party and work with flexibility by setting aside their differences. They dubbed the planned alliance as "unholy and opportunistic".
Maintaining that the INDIA alliance is for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and not for assembly polls in any state, the Congress on Friday asserted that the opposition bloc of 27 parties exists and will fight together.
The Congress is fighting the elections in a pre-poll alliance with National Conference and has fielded 32 candidates, mostly in Jammu region, compared to 51 by the regional party. Additionally, the CPI(M) and the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) have each been allocated one seat while both the Congress and NC had a 'friendly contest' on five seats.
The veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist leader is likely to undergo a few tests later in the day, which will help in ascertaining the severity of the infection in his lungs that landed him in the hospital on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Communist Party of India-Marxist leader and former Kerala health minister K K Shailaja has declined to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award as it was instituted in the name of late President of the Philippines, who was known allegedly for his brutality against the Communists.
A veritable political `storm in a tea cup' has arisen over Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee's assertions on Wednesday that all in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh were "not bad" and there are many who "do not support the BJP".
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed in the Lok Sabha early Thursday, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
While Karat is opposed to any understanding with the Congress, Yechury is of the view that the situation warrants putting together a national alternative to the BJP, reports Archis Mohan.
It was a protest which held a mirror to the government of a state taking pride in its commitment to democracy, gender equality and social indices.One person, who in his employed days had known governments and political parties at close quarters, told me that public perception of how the Kerala government handled the ASHA workers' strike had been terrible, reports Shyam G Menon.
A fresh political row has erupted in West Bengal over Bharatiya Janata Party national vice-president Dilip Ghosh's alleged unsavoury remarks about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, with the Trinamool Congress seeking his arrest and unconditional apology.
Josephine had courted controversy when she spoke harshly to a woman complainant of domestic violence during a live television programme of a Malayalam channel on Wednesday, causing embarrassment to the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist.
The central leadership of the CPI(M) on Monday admitted to a series of mistakes, including the decision to allow the first UPA government to go to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2007.
However, there was no official word from the Lokpal.
Yechury has dropped enough hints that a fight is in the offing at the Hyderabad conclave in April, where any member may move an amendment to the draft on the party's electoral line. Archis Mohan reports.
In a scathing attack on the United Progressive Alliance government, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said that the government had failed in all its economic policies and that is why the aam aadmi in the country is suffering. Exceprts from his speech:
Officials have said an absence of drainage system and safety measures, and use of basement for commercial activities in violation of norms led to the death of three civil services aspirants at the coaching centre.
In a four-cornered fight, the real battle is between Union minister Pratima Bhoumik and CPM's Kaushik Chanda.
CPI (M) is set to meet the FM to discuss economic policy ahead of the Budget.
Amid reports of the Left taking tougher stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat on Tuesday held an hour-long meeting with Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu.
While Yechury feels CPI-M should unite with others to fight the 'growing danger of fascistic forces', Karat camp says it should fight the BJP, but not have any leaning towards the Congress or other opposition parties.
The Kerala unit of the Congress instantly gets a headache when Shashi Tharoor lets loose one of his observations showering flowers on enemy territory. With every such action triggering controversy within a nervous Congress party, some feel it is high time Tharoor showed a degree of solidarity with the ideals of his party, notes Shyam G Menon.
Rajnath came down heavily on the National Conference-Congress alliance over its poll promise of restoring Article 370 and said it is impossible as long as the BJP is there.
The farmers called off their agitation on Monday after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government announced it has accepted "almost all" of their demands in writing and assured to implement them in a time-bound manner.
The Congress vice president said Bengal which was once industrious has turned into a "graveyard" in Trinamool Congress's rule.
A day after being extensively trolled in the social media for his gaffe describing late legendary boxer Muhammad Ali as a Keralite, Sports Minister E P Jayarajan admitted his "mistake." In a Facebook post, the minister, who was mauled on social media, said "a mistake is a mistake" and hoped the state's enlightened people and sports personalities would understand his folly. Soon after reports of Ali's passing away broke on Saturday, a Malayalam television channel had contacted the minister for a condolence message. In the phone-in news programme Jayarajan had said, "I came to know only now that Muhammad Ali had died in America. Ali was a prominent personality in Kerala's sports scenario. He had won several gold medals for Kerala and had taken our state's fame skyhigh.. I wish to convey Kerala's sorrow and the sorrow of the state's sport lovers." Explaining the circumstances that led to the mistake, Jayayrajan said he was on his way to attend a function when he was called by the television channel for his reaction. The person who called him said "our Muhammad Ali died in America. He has won several gold medals," and that the minister should give a condolence message, Jayarajan said.
'When you have a village which is controlled by the BJP, who are the people likely to perpetrate the attack?'
Union minister Subhas Sarkar courted a controversy on Wednesday with his remarks that Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's mother did not cradle him in her arms when he was a child because of his "not so fair complexion"
'In Kerala, we are part of the government and our MLA is a minister there. These units understood the situation that made us to go with the BJP and supported our move. Our minister in the Left party's government (K Krishnankutty) in Kerala has given consent to us'
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Tuesday categorically ruled out forging an alliance or a united front with the Congress in future.
