Centenarian Communist Party of India-Marxist leader and freedom fighter, Samar Mukherjee, who was known for his oratory and leadership, died of old age ailments on Thursday.
The ruling National Conference on Friday demanded a CBI enquiry or a high-level probe into the functioning of a top secret intelligence unit set up by the former Army chief, General V K Singh. The unit is alleged 'to have used secret service funds to destabilise the Omar Abdullah government in Jammu and Kashmir.'
Two CPI(M) supporters, severely beaten up by alleged Trinamool Congress men at Nandigram and elsewhere, died in hospital today prompting the Marxists to call a 12-hour bandh in the area tomorrow.
The Communist Party of India on Thursday claimed that the results of the recent assembly polls in several states clearly showed that parties other than the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party had polled 'significant' percentage of votes and it was 'perfectly possible' for a non-Congress anti-communal combine to garner support.
With one of the Swiss banks agreeing to provide information to the United States about its account- holders, the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Monday demanded that the United Progressive Alliance government should seek details of Indians who have illegally stashed funds in Switzerland and other tax havens.
The Thursday's meeting will be the first between the Centre and mainstream Jammu and Kashmir politicians after the abrogation of Article 370 and the divisions of the erstwhile state into two union territories in 2019.
'Whatever the BJP tries to do, they will not be able to make a big mark in Kerala.'
'None other but the invincible chariot led by Modi and Shah could have taken up the challenge and won,' says Tarun Vijay.
CPI-M patriarch Jyoti Basu has raised a controversy by demanding the inclusion of West Bengal transport minister Subhas Chakraborty in the party Politburo as well as state party secretariat. Basu had earlier pitched for Chakroborty's inclusion to party general secretary Prakash Karat, but the veteran leader had failed to impress Karat in this regard.
He told the state party conference that West Bengal now stood at the crossroads and there was no prior model for industrialisation available to it.
A little over a year after it retained power in Kerala with a massive victory, the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front suffered a huge setback on Friday in a bypoll held to Thrikkakara assembly constituency, with Congress candidate Uma Thomas winning with a historic margin of 25,016 votes, giving a boost to the morale of the party-led United Democratic Front in the southern state.
Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretary and politbureau member Pinarayi Vijayan, who is leading a yatra from Kasargod in the northern-most part of Kerala to state capital Thiruvananthapuram says that his road show has been getting overwhelming response from all corners and that the people are flocking to take part in it.
The tussle between cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist and CPI- Marxist has taken an ugly turn in West Bengal, with as many as 120 CPI (M) workers being selectively identified, abducted and killed by Maoists in the past 11 months.
Launching an attack on the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist in West Bengal, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the party of 'grabbing' crores of rupees from central funds meant for the uplift of the poor and downtrodden.
The group, led by West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and state secretary Biman Bose, feels the "timing of the withdrawal" in July 2008 was "wrong". The group will seek a review of this decision in the forthcoming extended Central Committee meeting of the party in Vijayawada in August and also question other decisions of the party that are alleged to have led to the debacle in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist demanded tabling of a draft law to deal with honour killings in the monsoon session of Parliament, alleging that "political considerations" were downplaying the magnitude of such crimes. The party also criticised Home Minister P Chidambaram, saying he had a "flawed understanding" on having a separate comprehensive legislation on the issue.
Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal has sought systemic changes in the GST structure, saying every state and consumer has lost because of its basically flawed architecture that has also led to rampant revenue leakage for the states. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime came into force in July 2017. Even though the framework is focused on having a one-nation-one-tax model, quite a few items, including petroleum products and liquor are still out of the GST purview.
'For the UDF, it will depend on how far Rahul Gandhi will succeed with the goodwill he has.' 'That will make a difference.'
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday attacked Congress, accusing it of trying to help Communist Party of India-Marxist in the coming civic polls in West Bengal and virtually compared its United Progressive Alliance partner to collaborators of Pakistani army during Bangladesh liberation war.
Normal life was partially affected in West Bengal on Thursday following a state-wide 12-hour general strike called by Left Parties and trade unions, with the Bharatiya Janata Party also calling a 10-hour bandh to protest against alleged violence by ruling Trinamool Congress in the recent civic polls.
'We just cannot accept the interference of the government in matters concerning religion and faith.'
With transfer of 23 police and administrative officials by the EC ahead of Thursday's Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee suspected Congress and CPM hand behind their removal by the poll panel.
Deepening the image crisis that has afflicted Communist Party of India-Marxist in Kerala, police on Monday registered a murder case against the party's Idukki district secretary M M Mani for his controversial speech stating that the party had eliminated political enemies in the past.
The Communist Party of India Marxist on Thursday vowed to oppose a strategic alliance between India and US, stating such a move is aimed at countering China. ''We shall not rest in our fight till the strategic ties with the US is snapped out,'' Karat said at a CPI(M)-sponsored programme in Kolkata to celebrate the October Revolution. He said the US was trying to make India its strategic ally in countering China, which is "the most powerful socialist country."
State party leaders admit that Hindu consolidation by itself was not good enough to unseat Didi.
The CPI(M) today observed 'Black day' in Kerala in protest against Governor R S Gavai's decision to accord sanction to the CBI to prosecute former Minister and party's state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin graft case.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Tuesday appeared lukewarm to the speculations on bringing him back to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, saying that he would not appeal to the party.
With the aim of opposing the India-United States nuclear agreement, the Communist Party of India - Marxist is trying to form a third front without the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, senior party leader Sitaram Yechuri said on Sunday. Addressing a public meeting, Yechuri also requested other parties to join this front.
"I urged Dr Singh on behalf of people of the state that it was the right time to take bold steps. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are tired of the vicious cycle of terror and counter terror and this should be put to an end," Tarigami said.
Unfazed by the organisational consequences, Communist Party of India-Marxist stalwart V S Achuthanandan Wednesday said he was dropped from the party politburo a few years back for telling the truth about a corruption case in which state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan was facing inquiry.
''The BJP has been able to gain power in areas where the Left parties have become weak, owing to the UPA government's anti-people policies,'' the CPI-M said in a resolution adopted on the last day of the party's 22nd state committee meeting.
Trinamool Congress floor leader Derek O'Brien was suspended from the Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday for the remaining part of the Winter session after he threw a Rajya Sabha rule book at the Chair.
Though several exit polls have painted a dismal picture about the electoral fate of the Left Front in West Bengal and Kerala -- two states ruled by the Communist Party of India - Marxist led combine -- the top brass of the party is putting up a brave front. Top Left Front leaders have claimed that the party will retain power in both states despite heavy odds. The United Democratic Front in Kerala, led by the Congress, is locked in a bitter battle with the Left parties.
Its efforts to establish itself in politically important North India has not yielded much results till date. But now, in a calculated bid to expand beyond Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura, the CPI(M) has picked up Rajasthan as its target area. The party will field as many as 34 candidates in the forthcoming Assembly elections there. The 200-seat strong state Assembly is currently ruled by the BJP.
Initiating a Short Duration Discussion on the proposal to set up a SEZ in Nandigram and consequent large-scale violence, senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said since directives to the state under Article 355 would not work, 'President's Rule should be imposed.'
The CPM will review its decision to support the UPA only if the govt operationalised the N-deal, leader Nilotpal Basu said. The CPI(M) also downplayed the apparent differences between the party's Bengal leaders and General Secretary Prakash Karat.
Karat alleged that the United Progressive Alliance government has taken a lukewarm approach towards the American comments on the sovereign issues of India like that of its foreign policy.
A Facebook post by the son of a Communist Party of India-Marxist leader has landed him in hot water. The Kadirur police has registered a case under the Information Technology Act against Jain Raj, son of CPI-M's P Jayarajan for his post in which he expressed happiness over the killing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader.
"This is not a manifesto, it is our pledge to bring a change which is set to become true. Every sector has been taken into consideration while preparing this manifesto so that we can make Bihar a happy, better and prosperous state," Tejashwi Yadav said while releasing vision document.
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