Terming as "rigged" the death sentence to ousted Iraq president Saddam Hussein, the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Sunday denounced the Iraqi High Tribunal verdict and demanded intervention by the UPA government to get it rescinded.
But the party said it could do little about it as per the existing laws.
'Any mistake in the defense of secularism, any lapse in economic policy that affects the people, any giving in to pressure from America, we shall come out,'warns CPI-M leader Prakash Karat.
Karat, 56, takes over from Harkishen Singh Surjeet, who offered to step down from the post.
Biswas had suffered a massive brain haemorrhage.
The CPI-M elects a new general secretary to replace Prakash Karat who steps down after three terms.
The former West Bengal chief minister will explain the Communist Party of India-Marxist's views on the implementation of the Common Minimum Programme.
"Our agenda is the nuclear deal and not the stability of the government or an early or late election. We are opposed to the deal because we think it is not in the interest of the country," CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury told media persons in New Delhi. Whether government will go in for early elections is for them to decide, he said in reply to a question on the sidelines of the party Central Committee meeting in New Delhi.
Demanding a roll back of the hike in cooking gas price, that was increased by Rs 20 per cylinder yesterday, CPI (M) said the Centre's decision not to touch import duties on petroleum products will lead to an "anomalous" situation.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-affiliated Centre of Indian Trade Unions on Wednesday demanded that the 9.5 per cent interest for the over 3.2 crore provident fund subscribers be retained.
Apparently not giving up hopes on persuading the Left on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said at the India-Brazil-South Africa summit on October 17 that the process of evolving a 'meaningful consensus is still on.'
'When there is a spontaneous movement against the State, it is easily crushed. But it is difficult to crush a guided movement because it has the support of activists and social workers'
CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said that there could be talks between the Left and the Congress once UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi returned from South Africa
In a statement, the CPI-M Politburo contended that a political party was a voluntary association of citizens who believe in the ideology, programme and the leadership, and it was accountable only to its membership.
With the declaration of results for the Tripura Assembly polls on Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power in the state by winning 32 seats and its ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) winning one.
'The Congress's arrogance and unrealistic claims have weakened the anti-BJP movement at the national level.'
Leaders of the West Bengal Congress unit, which has an alliance with the CPI-M-led Left Front in the state, were seen welcoming the Left leaders.
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.
In a four-cornered fight, the real battle is between Union minister Pratima Bhoumik and CPM's Kaushik Chanda.
'SC is giving us the distinct impression that verdicts, treatment of review petitions are influenced by what pleases/displeases those in power'
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, are protesting at various borders of the national capital for more than a month against the laws and are demanding that these be repealed.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, which was hearing an application filed by the Election Commission (EC) seeking a modification of the operative portion of its March 11 order in the electoral bonds case, directed its registrar (judicial) to ensure that the data filed earlier by the poll panel before it in a sealed cover be scanned and digitised.
Despite their opposition based on ideology, both the political Right and the political Left possess similar behaviour, observes Shyam G Menon.
CPI-M veteran Pinarayi Vijayan, who led the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to an unprecedented consecutive victory in the April 6 assembly polls, on Thursday took oath as chief minister of Kerala for the second time along with 20 ministers.
The AIKS, a key member of the "Samyukta Kisan Morcha" that is spearheading the "Dilli Chalo" agitation against the three farm laws, asserted that no farmer organisation approached the court in the first place and asked for its intervention in the matter.
This is the second time Vijayan is contesting from Dharmadam constituency.
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.
For once, politicians in Kerala cutting across party lines are standing together. The issue? The storming of the Kerala House in New Delhi by over a dozen policemen after a fringe right-wing outfit tipped them off about the house canteen serving a dish made of cow meat.
Modi, while addressing the 150th anniversary programme of Kolkata Port Trust, invoked Mookerjee and B R Ambedkar and said their contributions had led to the development of the country post Independence, but suggestions made by them were not implemented after they resigned from the government.
CPI-M alleged that some Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Bharatiya Janata Party workers came in a vehicle and hurled a bomb at Pinarayi in Dharmadam assembly segment from where CPI-M politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan won.
Justice Subramonium Prasad said petitioner lawyer Sanjay Hegde is a "good friend" of his and that the pleas be listed before some other bench.
"Everyone knows the situation in Kerala. Amit Shah should tell what is wrong here...minorities in Karnataka face widespread attacks whereas religious minorities are safe in Kerala," the chief minister said, adding that Kerala is the only place where the 'communal propaganda of Sangh Parivar' is not working.
Communist Party of India-Marxist Polit Bureau member Pinarayi Vijayan will be the next Chief Minister of Kerala.
The Congress and Left Front on Thursday finalised sharing of 193 seats of the total 294 in West Bengal assembly with the Left parties getting the lion's share of 101 seats.
BJP's K Surendran mocked the new government saying that it was contradictory that Communist ministers, who swear by rationalism and were not ready to take oath in the name of God and instead preferred to take solemn pledge had shown reluctance in taking the "No 13" state car as their official vehicle.
A joint delegation of the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Communist Party of India on Tuesday met the family members of the Dalit woman who was allegedly gangraped and killed in Hathras, and demanded an independent judicial enquiry into the matter.
The Left rewrote history in Kerala on Sunday by becoming the first government to get a second term in four decades but its fortunes fell to a historic low in West Bengal where it failed to bag even one seat, resulting in its complete decimation in a state it once ruled for over three decades.
A senior CPI-M leader said there is no comparison between Sangh Parivar's demand for a complete ban on beef and Catholic Church's call for a ban on liquor.
'The government till now said that we did not want a meeting, now that we have specifically told them when, where and what of the meeting, there is no response from them'
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.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances