The continued efforts of the United States to expand and maintain its hegemonic drive. The unsustainability of imperialist-driven globalisation accentuates the US drive to make it sustainable by the intensification of exploitation both domestically and of the developing countries; by capturing of economic resources and the use of military force around the world.

The world economy which witnessed 3-4 per cent annual growth of GDP during 2004-05 is facing prospects of a slowdown. The main reason for the recession is the collapse of the real estate boom (sub-prime mortgages) in the United States. A slowdown in the US economy is bound to spill over to other advanced economies as well as developing countries. A slowdown in the US would affect the incomes and employment growth in these countries as well.

Imperialist-driven globalisation has resulted in further widening of inequalities. There is a net outflow of resources from the developing countries to the advanced economies. A study of personal wealth worldwide by the UN institute, WIDER in 2006, revealed that the richest one per cent of adults alone owned 40 per cent of global assets. In contrast, the bottom half of the world adult population owned barely one percent of the world’s assets.

US imperialism considers West Asia central to its strategy to control energy resources. Under US occupation, the plunder of Iraq including its oil resources is sought to be legitimised. Both in Palestine and Lebanon, the United States is pursuing a strategy of divide and rule. The outcome of the latest Annapolis conference is certain to be a failure as it does not address the basic issues arising out of the Israeli occupation.

The targetting of and the orchestrated confrontation with Iran is part of the Bush administration’s policy to control the oil-rich region. The US National Intelligence estimated that Iran has not been making nuclear weapons since 2003 has knocked the bottom out of the Bush administration’s plan to sanction and attack Iran.

The US “war on terror” has extracted a heavy toll. The Nato has been expanded to cover all the East European countries and has reached Asia with its operations in Afghanistan.

There is growing resistance to imperialist aggression and the economic dictates of international finance capital. Iraq and Afghanistan have defined the limits of military aggrandisement by the world’s biggest imperialist power.

The Left has made further advances in Latin America. Since the last Party Congress, apart from the electoral victories in Brazil and Venezuela, the Left registered success in Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador. Both in Venezuela and Bolivia, the road to progressive transformation in a democratic manner is being opposed vehemently by reactionary forces.

There are major trends which are promoting multi-polarity and countering the unilateralism of the US and its hegemonic methods. The growing assertion of Russia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and close relations between Russia and China have strengthened the trends towards multipolarity.

This period has seen a steady economic growth in China and its growing influence. Vietnam too has also registered progress and made impressive strides by reducing poverty. Both DPRK and Cuba have rebuffed all attempts by the US to intimidate and subvert its socialist system.

The problem of global warming and climate change has assumed crisis proportions. The primary cause for bringing the world to the brink of such a disaster has been the predatory greed of global capital. Climate change will affect the people in the developing countries the most. The USA, the leading polluter with over 16 per cent of global emissions, continues to defy international opinion by refusing to ratify the Kyoto protocol.

In the South Asian region, the struggle for democracy in Pakistan and Bangladesh has come to the fore. In Sri Lanka, the resumption of hostilities and the failure to arrive at a political settlement of the Tamil question is of serious concern. In the entire region, alongwith the struggle for democracy the issue of imperialist intervention has come to the fore.

The CPI(M) will continue to mobilise the Indian people to fight imperialism. The CPI(M) will oppose India becoming a strategic ally of the United States and thereby contribute to strengthening the worldwide anti-imperialist struggle.

The BJP, after its defeat in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, fell back on its hardcore Hindutva platform. The role of the RSS in the running of the party is reinforced. In the BJP-ruled states the communal situation has deteriorated. Attacks on minorities both Muslims and Christians have taken place in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Karnataka and Orissa.  The performance of the BJP-led state governments underline the fact that it is the most reactionary force in Indian politics. Alongwith communalisation of the administration and the educational system, they are pursuing  policies nakedly promoting the interests of the big capitalists, contractors and the rural rich. Despite these communal activities, the BJP has not succeeded to rouse the people and passions on issues such as the Ram temple or the Ram Sethu. But given the growing discontent and the economic difficulties of the people, the potential exists for the discontent being channelised into divisive communal politics.

In the last few years the big business-led growth regime has not led to increase in employment and livelihood opportunities for the people. Growth has completely bypassed the agriculture sector which continues to remain in doldrums.

The stark failure of the UPA has been in tacking the agrarian crisis. It has failed to address the key issue which was at the heart of the current agrarian crisis i.e. the financial viability of cultivation. Thje reduction of subsidies and closure of indigenous fertiliser plants resulting in the import of urea at higher prices has burdened the farmers further. The depth of the crisis can be gauged by the shocking figure of 150,000 suicides by farmers from 1997 to 2005 according to the data of the National Crime Records Bureau.

The trend to reverse land reforms and undermine land–ceiling laws continues. The UPA government has not implemented several important recommendations of the National Commission of Farmers. The thrust of the agricultural strategy of the Government continues to be on expanding the role of private corporates in procurement, warehousing, marketing and contract farming.

The food policies of the UPA government are a matter of great concern. The policy towards PDS is interlinked with the privatisation of foodgrains procurement, mainly wheat. The government is relying on import of wheat from abroad for the past two years at prices significantly higher than the Minimum Support Price. The Targetted PDS system is a failure. The BPL beneficiaries are being restricted on the basis of unreasonable criteria. The APL criteria is sought to be dispensed with. The CPI(M) demands a universal Public Distribution System as suggested in the Common Minimum Programme.

The UPA government has sought to push ahead with economic policies geared towards providing more concessions to big business and foreign finance capital. The abolition of long–term capital gains tax on equity is a glaring example of the bonanza handed out to the speculators and corporates who have made super profits out of the stock market boom. This distorted growth has led to the superrich becoming richer. There were 48 Indians with wealth over $1 billion (Rs. 4000 crore) in 2007, as compared to 25 in 2006. The policy of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) is yet another instance of brazen favours handed out to big businesses by the government.

During the three and half years of the UPA government, the opposition of the Left blocked efforts to increase FDI in insurance and banking and stop the FDI in retail trade after its partial introduction. The firm stand taken on the disinvestment of stakes in BHEL led to the stop of disinvestment in the navaratna companies and also by and large in the profitable PSUs. The government was forced to restrict futures trading in rice and wheat. The government has not succeeded in privatising the pension funds or bringing major changes in the labour laws.

The Party has followed the approach to the UPA government set out in the 18^th Congress. While extending support, the Party has played an independent role. The CPI(M) and the Left has succeeded to some extent in fulfilling two goals. Some of the more retrograde policies and legislations have been checked because they cannot be passed without the support of the Left in parliament. On the other hand, the Left pressure and struggles and movements have led to some of the pro-people measures being adopted such as NREG and the Forest Tribal Act. The CPI(M) and the Left have succeeded in slowing the pace at which the government wishes to push through neoliberal reforms.

Price rise of essential commodities is eroding the livelihood of the people. Successive hikes in fuel prices have contributed to inflationary pressures in the economy.

According to the 11^th Plan document, wage share in the organised industrial sector has halved after 1980s and is now among the lowest in the world. According to the report of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS), 77 per cent of the population were earning below Rs. 20 per day or Rs. 600 per month.

The rate of unemployment has increased from 6.1 per cent in 1993–94 to 8.3 per cent in 2004–05. Impoverishment and unemployment in the rural areas is leading to large–scale migration of men and women to cities where they are subjected to terrible exploitation.

The National Family Health Survey of 2005-06 has shown has shown that 40 per cent of India’s under-three year old children are underweight and 70 per cent anaemic; 55 per cent of women are anaemic.

The soaring land prices, real estate speculation and the entry of FDI in real estate have put house sites and housing out of the reach of the poor.

The CPI(M) has opposed the UPA government’s departure from the framework of the CMP on foreign policy. The Party opposed the Indo-US Defence Framework agreement and the Indo-US Joint Statement of July 2005. The Party has been mobilising the people to oppose the joint military exercises with the United States.

The Party has opposed the implementation of the Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement given the harmful provisions of the Hyde Act and its implications for foreign policy and security matters.

The CPI(M) stands for an independent foreign policy and this requires that India does not enter into a strategic alliance with the United States.

The CPI(M) wants the North East to be declared a priority region for development. While taking firm action against the ULFA and other terrorist groups, maximum emphasis should be given on economic development and provision of employment for the youth. This, alongwith the creation of a democratic set up which provides for autonomy and the protection of the identity of the various ethnic groups should be the basis for ending the feelings of alienation and separatism.

The CPI(M) reiterates that a political solution is possible only by assuring the Kashmiri people that their identity and culture will be fully safeguarded. This requires the creation of a political set–up which provides for maximum autonomy for the state based on the full scope of Article 370 of the Constitution.  An autonomous set–up should be created with the regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh being given regional autonomy. Meanwhile, all efforts must be made to carry forward the economic development of the state focussing particularly on generating  employment for the youth and reconstructing the damaged infrastructure.

The nature of Centre’s intervention and the encroachment on states rights has acquired a new dimension after liberalisation and deregulation. The Centre seeks to push through neoliberal policies by setting conditions on transfer of resources to the states. The CPI(M) will take the initiative to raise issues of Centre-State relations and rally support of the people against the growing encroachment from the Centre.

There has been a spurt of terrorist attacks around the country. The Party will vigorously fight the extremist trends and terrorist violence and mobilise the people to isolate such trends. While doing so, it should be pointed out that the attacks on the minority community by the majority communalist elements feed the growth of extremism.

The CPI(M) condemns the Maoist-Naxalites who are resorting to terrorist actions and violence against political opponents. The Maoists cannot be treated in any manner as a Left force as they actually harm the movement.

The CPI(M) will take the lead in stepping up struggles in defence of dalit rights in all spheres – economic, political and social. The Party has to counter the growing political mobilisation based on caste identities.

The Party has been actively taking up the issues of tribal people, their right to land, access to forests and protection of their cultural and linguistic identity.

The Party will work for the proper implementation of the Tribal Forest Act.

The Party will campaign against socially regressive customs and issues of caste discrimination, dowry and female foeticide.

The Party will wage a sustained movement for women’s rights as part of the general democratic platform.

The CPI(M) will strive for implementation of substantive policies based on the Sachar Committee’s report on improving the socio-economic status of the Muslim community. The CPI(M) while continuing to resolutely combat majority communalism will also counter the fundamentalist and extremist elements in the minority community.

The Party will continue to press for increase in allocations for education so that it meets the 6 per cent of the GDP promised in the Common Minimum Programme. The Party supports the demand for a central legislation which will enable the states to exercise social control and regulate fees and admissions in private institutions.

Erosion of the public health system continues and expenditure on health is a major burden on ordinary people. Minimum public expenditure on health should be raised to 3 per cent of the GDP as promised in the CMP. The CPI(M) demands that all essential drugs be brought under price control.

The Draft Resolution notes that two general strikes by the working class have taken place in September 2005 and December 2006. The Party has taken up the issues of land, food and employment in a big way for its national campaigns in 2005 and 2006. The Party has conducted various struggles, chief among them were the struggles in Andhra Pradesh for land and house sites and for water supply and electricity for farmers in Rajasthan.

The CPI(M) has worked to increase the role of the Left at the national level. The Left parties have worked in a more coordinated fashion to adopt a common stand and intervened on all major policy issues during this period. However, there have been differences among the Left parties in West Bengal on industrialisation and the events in Nandigram. While the CPI(M), as the strongest party has the major responsibility to strengthen Left unity, the responsibility of other parties is also there to maintain Left unity.

The prominent role played by the CPI(M) in national politics in opposing a strategic alliance with US imperialism and waging a determined struggle to check the UPA government’s neoliberal inclinations came into focus because of the dependence of the UPA government on the support of the Left. Such a situation has attracted the ire of the imperialist circles and the vested interests in the country. The big bourgeois media has unleashed a vicious campaign to defame the Left and the CPI(M) in particular.

The Left-led governments of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura have shown by their work that pro-people measures can be adopted and popular support sustained despite serious limitations under which state governments function.

The CPI(M) has to expand its base and intervene all over the country commensurate to its growing political role. For this, the independent role of the Party, its enhanced political activity and organisational strength is essential.

There is no alternative to the bourgeois–landlord system’s policies but the Left Democratic Alternative. The CPI(M) will endeavour to build a Left and democratic platform which can meet the aspirations and defend the interests of all sections of the working people.

The Party differentiates between the BJP and the Congress, considering the latter as a secular bourgeois party, though it often vacillates when the communal forces take the offensive. The Party will continue to adopt tactics for isolating and defeating the BJP. It will not enter into any alliance or united front with the Congress.

There has to be an alternative to the Congress and the BJP-led combinations. The Left must take the initiative for it. For this it is necessary to forge a third alternative. Such a platform must be based on a consistent anti–communal outlook, address the problems faced by the people and advocate pro–people economic measures; it should make provisions for social welfare and for strengthening of the public distribution system; defence of national sovereignty and an independent foreign policy.

The Party will maintain relations with all the non–Congress secular parties for developing united struggles and joint actions on common issues. The building of a third alternative must be undertaken. The Party should take the initiative for this and strengthen Left unity to facilitate this work.

The Party will ceaselessly struggle to defend national sovereignty, resist the neoliberal policies, defend the interests of the working people and work for alternative policies.

The Party will spare no effort to isolate the BJP–RSS combine who spearhead the communal forces in the country.

The Party will mobilise all the patriotic and democratic sections to thwart the US imperialist designs to convert India into its strategic ally.

The Party will champion the cause of the dalits, tribal people, women, minorities and other oppressed sections for social justice. The social charter is part of the Left and democratic programme.