Press Communique
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) which met on September 26, 2018 at New Delhi has issued the following statement:
Kerala
The Polit Bureau appreciated the efforts being made by the LDF state government in Kerala towards the relief and rehabilitation work of the people affected by the unprecedented floods recently.
The CPI(M) calls upon the central government to immediately accede to the demands made by the Chief Minister including the release, as a special grant, of at least Rs. 5,000 crores towards meting the expenditures on this score. The estimated damage is to the tune of Rs. 30,000 crores. The CPI(M) on its part has collected and sent tens of crores of rupees to the CM’s Relief Fund from all over the country.
Tripura
The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) condemns the continuing attacks on the people being mounted by the BJP-IPFT state government. The recent local body bye elections are a complete farce where opposition candidates were not even allowed to file their nominations. There is a naked murder of democracy that is happening in the state.
Mazdoor-Kisan Mobilisation
The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) hailed the massive participation of the workers, farmers and agricultural workers in the nationwide protest programmes of August 9 jail bharo and the September 5 rally before parliament in Delhi.
Aadhar Judgment
The CPI(M) has always maintained that Aadhar should not be mandatory for any welfare scheme. The reality is that lakhs of poor are being denied universal rights in the name of non-authentication of Aadhar. This renders vulnerable crores of poor people whose existence is dependent upon the accessibility to welfare schemes. Unfortunately, the majority judgment of the Supreme Court continues to maintain Aadhar as mandatory.
The Supreme Court’s so-called safeguards will prove to be ineffective. The benefits for the poor and marginalized sections can only be reached if Aadhar is explicitly made non-mandatory. The CPI(M) will continue its struggle on this score.
The apex court has ruled that private companies cannot have access to data and Aadhar is not required for bank accounts, mobile connections, admissions to educational institutions and entrance exams. While this may provide some protection to right to privacy, a major problem arises when this central government has privatized and outsourced to private companies many government responsibilities. Such companies will have access to Aadhar data. This is violative of the right to privacy – a fundamental right – ruled by the apex court itself.
The CPI(M) welcomes the minority judgment of Justice Chandrachud who has held that the passing of the Aadhar legislation in parliament as a money bill is a fraud on the Constitution.
Rafale Scam
The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) reiterates that a Joint Parliamentary Committee must immediately be constituted to probe this multi-crore rupee scam. Revelations made by former French President Hollande, with whom this deal was finalized by PM Modi, and the current President Macron indicate that there are a large number of questions that need to be answered by the Prime Minister himself. Why was this deal renegotiated? How has the public sector HAL been replaced by Reliance Defence of Anil Ambani? Is this not a clear case of crony capitalism?
A scam of this dimension cannot go without accountability which must be identified and apportioned by the Joint Parliamentary Committee. The BJP on the one hand claims that the Rafael deal is fully transparent and there is nothing pointing towards any sleaze, but on the other it is opposing the constitution of a JPC, which is untenable. The JPC would enquire into the commercial deal and not go into any defence related matters connected with the purchase of this aircraft. Hence the misguided disinformation that the JPC would compromise India’s security concerns is bogus.
The BJP needs to be made to recollect the position it had taken with regard to the formation of the JPC to probe the Bofors scandal.
Alarming Rise in
Prices of Petroleum Products
The prices of petrol and diesel as also cooking gas and kerosene continue to shoot up imposing unprecedented burdens on crores of people in our country. This rise in prices of petroleum products is having a cascading affect on the overall levels of inflation, sharply deteriorating the living standards of the vast majority of our people.
Condemn this Harassment
The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) condemns the false cases and detention under UAPA of intellectuals and lawyers who stood in solidarity with the dalit protesters who were severely repressed following the Bhima Koregaon.
The CPI(M) demands that the Supreme Court order on Sanjeev Bhatt must be complied with by the Gujarat state government immediately.
Electoral Tactics
The Polit Bureau discussed the tactics for the forthcoming round of assembly elections in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. This will now be put before the Central Committee which will meet from October 6 to 8, 2018 where the electoral tactics for the 2019 general elections will also be discussed.