All eyes are on Dobbspet, a tiny town 50 km away from Bangalore, where a set of leaders is all set to rework the 1996 magic called the Third Front.
Facing heat from the party's top brass, Communist Party of India - Marxist stalwart in Kerala V S Achuthanandan on Thursday publicly admitted that he had committed "organisational mistakes" on issues related to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant and the murder of an expelled party leader. Achuthanandan's admission comes two days after the CPI-M central committee censured him for defying the official line on these issues.
Violent clashes erupted between activists of the ruling BJP and the principal opposition, CPI-M, in different parts of Tripura.
'In India there is so much exploitation because of capitalism,' says CPI-M Politburo member Brinda Karat.
In a joint letter to the prime minister, the opposition leaders, including some chief ministers, have also demanded providing foodgrains to the needy, and giving Rs 6,000 per month to the unemployed.
CPI leader D Raja says that the Left has nothing personal against either Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or Congress President Sonai Gandhi.
Voting for the assembly by-election from Neyyattinkara segment near Thiruvananthapuram got underway on Saturday morning on a brisk note.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party managed to notch up a morale-boosting win on its 'Mission Northeast' on Thursday by retaining Tripura emphatically, despite anti-incumbency and newcomer Tipra Motha playing spoilers to its party, while also piggy-backing to power in Nagaland on Neiphiu Rio-led NDPP's shoulder.
Defending the liquor ban in Bihar, he said that the state's prohibition policy has benefitted several people and a large number of people have given up drinking alcohol due to his measures.
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.
Donations from corporates to the national parties increased by 109 per cent between FY 2017-18 and 2018-19, said an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO working for bringing in transparency in electoral politics.
An agitated Congress condemned the anti-party act of Thomas and said he will face stern action for violating the order of the high command.
Top leadership of the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Thursday met to firm up its strategy for the Presidential poll ahead of the Left parties meeting in New Delhi amidst indications that the party is mulling either to support United Progressive Alliance candidate Pranab Mukherjee or abstain from the July 19 poll.
Yadav vowed to dislodge the government headed by Nitish Kumar, whom Congress leader Avinash Pandey in his address accused of "apharan" (hijacking) of the mandate in the previous elections.
Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the Delhi government and the police on Karat's plea which has sought that a list of the arrested persons be put up outside the police control room and police stations in the district, and should updated on a case-by-case basis.
However, police said the saw allegedly used by Poonawala to cut his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar's body is yet to be recovered.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to former Left Front minister and Communist Party of India - Marxist Member of Legislative Assembly Susanta Ghosh. While granting bail, a bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and Gyan Sudha Misra imposed the condition that Ghosh will not visit any part of West Bengal's West Midnapore district other than his assembly constituency Garbeta. The apex court had allowed his appeal against the denial of bail by the Calcutta high court.
As Congress intensified efforts for a consensus candidate for the vice president's post, the Communist Party of India Marxist said it is in favour of a candidate who does not belong to the Congress. This was conveyed by CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had recently contacted him as part of efforts to seek support of political parties in selection of a candidate in the vice presidential election.
The Communist Party of India Marxist on Saturday said the classified American cables released by Wikileaks showed the 'complicity' of the Manmohan Singh government in furthering United States's 'imperialist' interests. "As the Wikileaks cables from around the world have shown, the United States pursues single-mindedly its imperialist interests. The unfortunate part is the complicity of the Manmohan Singh government in furthering some of these interests, CPI-M said.
As soon as the House met at 2 pm, papers were laid on the table and two resolutions adopted amid slogan shouting and protest by Congress members.
"Some parts of West Bengal like Purulia had been described as the most backward in the country. A comparison of the socio-economic indicators of Purulia with those in Rae Bareli and Amethi will tell the real story," an editorial in the CPI-M mouthpiece People's Democracy said.
Controversy surrounded the intervention of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after the clash between police and youths during a religious procession, as she came under attack from opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Fund has alleged that absence of Bharatiya Janata Party candidate against Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan in Malampuzha is part of a clandestine understanding between the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the BJP as they are now together in opposing the United Progressive Alliance at the Centre.
Amid murmurs of formation of a third front, Samajwadi Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Tuesday sought to bridge the gap between the two following their bitter parting of ways with the SP inviting top Left leaders for the swearing-in of Akhilesh Yadav as Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
Capt Lakshmi Sahgal was very active during the Independence movement and had commanded the 'Rani of Jhansi Regiment' of the INA formed by Bose
The major coalition formations in the country were trying to weaken the Left movement, which had always put forward an alternative to the Centre's neo-liberal and anti-imperialist policies in the states governed by them, Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Sitaram Yechury said on Monday.
Despite their opposition based on ideology, both the political Right and the political Left possess similar behaviour, observes Shyam G Menon.
Clashes were reported from some parts of West Bengal after the announcement of assembly poll results in which the Trinamool Congress trounced the Left Front with the Communist Party of India-Marxist alleging that three of its activists have been killed.
Terming as "absurd" Home Minister P Chidambaram's remarks that West Bengal was among the worst governed states in the country, the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Tuesday hit back at him saying he was part of a government presiding over the "most corrupt regime" in independent India.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday refuted the Congress charge as 'baseless' that her party had not fielded a candidate against Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan in the April 13 assembly elections as part of a secret pact with the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist.
Banerjee told journalists after an all-party meeting that though the participants differed over ways to tackle the pandemic, consensus emerged that the lockdown should be extended with relaxations.
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.
Jammu and Kashmir has been without an assembly since November 2018 when the then legislative assembly was dissolved by then Governor Satya Pal Malik after the People's Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government fell apart earlier that year.
The two women, who had earned their daily bread selling lottery tickets on the streets of Kochi, were allegedly sacrificed by the accused to settle their financial issues and bring prosperity in life, police said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has ruled Gujarat for 27 years, is trying to retain power in the state for the seventh term in a row.
The announcement comes a day after the opposition's Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) allotted just one seat to the Left parties in Bihar.
Voting will be held on Thursday for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections in 89 seats spread across 19 districts in Saurashtra-Kutch and southern parts of the state where 788 candidates are in the fray.
Condemning the Maoist attack in Dantewada which claimed 31 lives, the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Tuesday asked the government to take necessary steps to counter the 'bankrupt' policies of the extremists to attack commoners.
The announcement came after PAGD leaders met at Abdullah's Gupkar Road residence in Srinagar to discuss the Centre's invitation.
