The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met from November 3-5, 2024 in New Delhi. It has issued the following communique:
Election Commission Should Take Action
The utterly communal speeches being made by BJP leaders led by the Prime Minister and Home Minister in the Jharkhand election campaign are a clear violation of the model code of conduct as well as the guidelines issued by the EC to all political parties. The Prime Minister in his speeches has directly targeted the Muslim community vilifying members of the community as “ghuspetias”. He has gone so far in his communal and hate filled speeches as to make the charge that “those people are taking away your (adivasis) bread and your daughters”. The clear attempt is to drive a wedge between communities and to garner votes. It is condemnable that the EC has not taken suo moto notice of such speeches. It is as if the Prime Minister and Home Minister who has made similar speeches are above the law. We demand that notice be issued to the Prime Minister, the Home Minister as well as other BJP leaders making communal speeches. These include the Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union Minister Shiv Raj Chauhan
Assembly Elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand
In Maharashtra, the CPI(M) is fighting two seats as part of the seat sharing with the Maha Vikas Aghadi. These are both tribal seats: Dahanu (ST) in Thane-Palghar district, where the candidate is the present MLA Vinod Nikole. The second seat is in Kalwan (ST) in Nashik district where the candidate is five time MLA and runner up in the last election J.P.Gavit. In addition, the CPI(M) is fighting a third seat in a friendly contest which is the Solapur City Central seat in which the candidate is veteran leader and three time MLA Narasayya Adam.
In Jharkhand, in the absence of any initiative from the JMM which is leading the INDIA bloc for discussions with the CPI(M), the Party has decided to fight nine seats in the state which include five ST seats and one SC seat. In the other seats, the Party will support the candidate best placed to defeat the BJP and its allies.
Assault on Rights of MNREGA Workers
In the name of digitalisation, there is an all-out attack on the rights of the rural poor as seen in the dreadful plight of MNREGA workers. A detailed recent study has shown that in the last two years as many as eight crore registered workers were deregistered and denied benefits of work, in violation of the law. In this year’s budgetary allocations, the allocation for MNREGA was severely cut as a percentage of GDP. This tech-centric approach combined with cuts in budgetary allocations is nothing but an assault on the legal rights of the rural poor families to a guaranteed 100 days of work a year. Earlier this year the Standing Committee of Parliament had recommended an increase of workdays to at least 150 days a year and also an increase in budgetary allocations. The Central government should implement these recommendations.
Fertiliser Shortage
Abject failure in planning for the Rabi season in having adequate opening stocks of DAP has created a huge shortage and crisis for farmers. As against 34.5 lakh tonnes imported during April to September in 2023, this year only 19.7 lakh tonnes were imported during the same period. There has also been a fall in domestic production. On October 1, 2024 merely 15-16 lakh tonnes were in stock as against the recommended 27-30 lakh tonnes; this is while the estimated demand from mid-October to mid-December is about 60 lakh tonnes.
Farmers are hit by shortages of DAP and also Urea, MoP etc. and they are reportedly having to pay about Rs.300-Rs.400 more than the Government fixed MRP of DAP i.e., Rs 1,350 per 50-kg bag. Rather than accept the failure and take urgent corrective measures, the Government is in a denial mode and indulging in propaganda on nano-urea and nano-DAP whose efficacy is questionable.
India requires expansion of domestic manufacturing of Urea and DAP. The main problem is the rise in prices of fertilizers due to decontrol, and administering input prices is critical. Presently only Urea prices are administered and that has resulted in higher use of urea vis-a-vis other fertilizers.
Preparations for Party Congress
The Central Committee discussed and adopted a Political Review Report regarding the implementation of the political-tactical line formulated at its last Party Congress held in April 2022. This will form the basis for the Draft Political Resolution for the 24th Party Congress to be held in Madurai from April 2 to 6, 2025. The Central Committee also finalised the state-wise quota of delegates for the Party Congress who are to be elected by the forthcoming state conferences.