Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) 

Liberation: The historic 2024 mandate against the dictatorial Modi regime

Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist 
9 June, 2024

Links | International Journal of Socialist Renewal



[Editor’s note: Clifton D'Rozario, from the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, will be speaking at Ecosocialism 2024, June 28–30, Boorloo/Perth, Australia. For more information on the conference visit ecosocialism.org.au.]

First published at CPI(ML) Liberation.

Democracy in India received a powerful and much-needed shot in the arm in the 2024 elections. It was an election in which no Modi jumla worked, and the BJP found itself almost clueless in the face of a massive assertion of the people's core agenda of livelihood and liberties and determination to save the Constitution and the rich diversity of India. It was the most unequal of India's elections till date, conducted by an Election Commission that couldn't care less for its constitutional responsibilities and accountability and behaved as an extension of the executive. The opposition did belatedly come together but admittedly lacked the kind of cohesion, clarity and dynamism demanded by the situation, yet the people made it work and used it as a vehicle to channelise their energy against the rampaging fascist bulldozer. Beyond the architecture of the INDIA coalition, the election truly became a people's movement on the ground, supported by the committed involvement of civil society activists and the highly effective and dedicated community of digital warriors.

2024 could not possibly be a repeat of 1977. A key reason is that while the 1977 election took place after the withdrawal of the Emergency, 2024 was happening in the middle of a relentless reign of terror and repression that did not need a formal declaration. 2024 was not 2004 either. The BJP in 2004 was not as powerful as the Modi era BJP and the opposition, especially the Congress, Left and the regional and social justice camp parties not as weakened as they have been rendered over the decade-long Modi rule. Yet in the history of India's parliamentary democracy, 2024 elections will be remembered for producing a truly historic verdict at a very critical juncture of modern India.

What made it especially effective was the emphatic nature of the verdict in India's three biggest states in terms of parliamentary strength - Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. The great showing of the SP-Congress combine in Uttar Pradesh in spite of the RLD joining the NDA and the BSP playing a highly dubious role at the behest of the BJP has been the high point of the popular assertion against the Modi-Shah-Yogi regime. The victory of the INDIA bloc right in Ayodhya, and the election of a senior Dalit leader in this general seat, powerfully symbolises the outright popular rejection of the Sangh's agenda. Particularly sweet too have been the downsizing of Modi himself in Varanasi, and the defeat of some of the most arrogant faces of the Modi regime like Ajai Mishra Teni from Lakhimpur and Smriti Irani from Amethi. The combination of the energy of the farmers' movement, the anger of the youth against massive unemployment and the Agniveer scheme in particular, and the determination of the Dalit-Bahujan communities and freedom-loving citizens to defend the Constitution turned the election into a mass upheaval in many parts of the country.

In spite of the apparently disparate and variegated nature of the election outcome, it will be wrong to see the mandate just as a sum of multiple state elections. True, the BJP has managed to tap into the political vacuum and ride on the popular yearning for change in states like Odisha and Andhra Pradesh where elections were held simultaneously to the state assemblies, but the poll outcome clearly conveys an all-India message against the Modi regime. And if anyone needed a proof, let us just look at the emphatic nature of the results from West Bengal where the TMC government had a lot of anti-incumbency, the INDIA bloc remained divided and it was believed by many that the Lok Sabha elections would be reduced to a referendum on the performance of the state government. In fact, the BJP has lost votes and seats across India with the exception of a few states like Odisha and Andhra where the incumbent state governments were voted out and the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Telangana where the BJP continues to grow in terms of vote share which has now also begun to translate into seats. The fact that the BJP received its biggest blow in Uttar Pradesh, the state that has been so central to the rise and consolidation of fascism in India, underlines the core content of the 2024 mandate.

Even though the INDIA coalition has underperformed in Bihar, the best performance has once again come from the south Bihar region of Shahabad and Magadh. Of the eight seats that went to the polls in this region on the last day, INDIA has won six and put up a great fight in the other two. The CPI(ML) played an anchor role in shaping this unity and assertion of the forces fighting for democracy and social justice, contested three of these eight seats and won two. In addition, the party also had to face an Assembly by-poll in Agiaon(SC) seat in Bhojpur caused by the disqualification of party MLA Manoj Manzil due to conviction in a politically motivated false case, which the party won with a comfortable margin. Jharkhand was the other state where the CPI(ML) fielded a candidate with the backing of the INDIA bloc but finished a rather distant second. It remains to be analysed why the anti-BJP thrust of the popular vote in Jharkhand remained confined only to the five ST reserved seats. While campaigning vigorously against the BJP across the country, the party paid special attention to the seats allotted to it in Bihar and Jharkhand.

The representation of the Left in Parliament got an encouraging boost with the victory of three MPs from the Hindi belt - two CPI(ML) MPs from Bihar and a CPI(M) MP from Rajasthan - in addition to the existing strength of six from the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The rise of a more assertive and united opposition within Parliament and beyond is the biggest gain of the 2024 elections apart from the resounding rebuff to the Modi regime that marginally fell short of the numbers needed to vote the NDA out of office. With the support of parties like TDP and JDU, the NDA may have the numbers to form the government, but leaders like Modi, Shah and Yogi who have lost the mandate have no moral right to remain at the helm of the new government. The previous Speaker had disgraced the Speaker's office by his partisan conduct which condoned hate speech against fellow parliamentarians while stifling democratic debate and dissent and the new Parliament must have a non-BJP Speaker to restore healthy environment and respect for democracy and parliamentary decorum. India has heaved a huge sigh of relief with the BJP's loss of outright majority and the battle to deliver a more crushing defeat to fascism must now be carried on with greater unity, courage and determination to rein in the executive, restore the constitutional rule of law and undo the damages done to India's social fabric and federal framework.

Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist Liberation: Lok Sabha election results are a mandate against the Modi dictatorship

Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist Liberation
5 June, 2024


[Editor’s note: Clifton D'Rozario, from the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, will be speaking at Ecosocialism 2024, June 28–30, Boorloo/Perth, Australia. For more information on the conference visit ecosocialism.org.au.]

The Lok Sabha election results are a mandate against Modi's dictatorship, and is a victory for democracy and Constitution, said CPI(ML) Liberation's General Secretary Comrade Dipankar. The performance of the INDIA alliance in Uttar Pradesh has paved way for the success of the alliance in the country, which is a befitting reply to the BJP and a rejection of the regime led by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, he said. The livelihood crisis of the people and the divisive policies adopted by the BJP has also been defeated.

In Bihar, CPI(ML) has won in two out of the three constituencies it contested. In Karakat, Comrade Rajaram Singh and in Arrah, Comrade Sudama Prasad have won. Dr. Sandeep Saurav was the runner up in Nalanda LS constituency. CPIML had also contested as part of the INDIA alliance in Kodarma (Jharkhand), where sitting MLA of Bagodar Comrade Vinod Singh was the candidate. It must be noted that after the disqualification of Comrade Manoj Manzil as the MLA from Agiaon in Bihar, due to his conviction in a politically motivated case, Agiaon had bypolls, in which Comrade Shivprakash Ranjan of CPIML has won. CPIML also contested independently from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, Koraput in Odisha and Bardhaman Purba in West Bengal.

CPIML welcomes the mandate of the people of the country. Our fight for democracy and the Constitution shall continue!

Kangana Ranaut slapped at Chandigarh airport for ‘comments on Indian farmers’ protests’

The newly-elected MP raised concerns over 'rising terrorism' in India's Punjab.

Images Staff
Updated 07 Jun, 2024

Indian actor Kangana Ranaut, who was just elected as a member of parliament on a Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) ticket, was slapped by a security guard at Chandigarh airport on Thursday, Dawn reported.

Ranaut was travelling to New Delhi days after her Lok Sabha election win from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi constituency. After the security check, Ranaut went to the boarding gate where she was slapped by the security guard.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable, identified as Kulwinder Kaur, has been suspended and an FIR registered against her, reports said. A complaint has also been submitted by the CISF to the local police.

According to NDTV, Kaur was offended by an old remark the Queen actor made about the farmers’ protest. The publication quoted the CISF constable — who reportedly comes from a family of farmers — as having said, “She gave a statement… that farmers are sitting there for INR 100. Will she go and sit there? My mother was sitting there and protesting when she gave this statement”.






Kaur also accused Ranaut of “disrespecting farmers”.

In a social media post, the actor had tweeted about an elderly woman seen at one of the protests and said she was “available for INR 100” — she was forced to delete the tweet after public outrage, NDTV reported.

After the incident, Ranaut took to her Instagram account to detail what had happened. “I am safe, I am perfectly fine. The incident happened at the security check-in. The woman guard waited for me to cross. She then came and hit me and started throwing expletives. I asked [her] why she hit me. She said, ‘I support farmers protest’. I am safe but my concern is terrorism is rising in Punjab. How do we handle that?”




The farmers’ movement in India’s Punjab has been active since the Modi regime approved three controversial agricultural bills in 2020.

Ranaut has repeatedly spoken out against the movement, and in October 2021, the Karnataka Police filed a FIR against the actor for her calling farmers protesting the Indian government’s new agriculture laws “terrorists”, The Business Standard reported.

After the 2021 farmers protests, led by Sikh farmers from the wheat and rice-growing state of Punjab in India’s north, singer Rihanna shared a CNN article and questioned why people weren’t talking about it.

In a deleted tweet from 2021, Ranaut lashed out at Rihanna. “No one is talking about it because they are not farmers; they are terrorists who are trying to divide India, so that China can take over our vulnerable broken nation and make it a Chinese colony much like USA…” Ranaut said, adding: “Sit down you fool, we are not selling our nation like you dummies.”

After Thursday’s incident, military officer Gaurav Arya said on X (formerly Twitter) that Kaur “will be punished” and alleged that the occurrence was “planned all along” as a way for the CISF to enter politics. Ranaut took to her Instagram to voice her agreement.

“She strategically waited for me to cross her and in a signature Khalistani style quietly came behind and hit my face without saying a word when I asked why she did that, she looked away and started to speak into the phone cameras focused on her, hogging sudden public attention”.






Ranaut highlighted that the farming laws were repealed and didn’t concern anyone, claiming that Kaur’s move was “her way of joining [the] Khalistani bandwagon which is getting major political seats in Punjab”.

Khalistan refers to a separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing an ethno-religious sovereign state called Khalistan in Punjab.

In a truly bizarre comparison, Ranaut also came after supporters of Palestine in her posts about the incident. “All eyes on Rafah gang, this can happen to you or your children as well… When you celebrate a terror attack on someone be ready for the day it comes back to you as well.”






In a since deleted Instagram story, the actor also called out the Bollywood fraternity for remaining silent about what happened to her. According to India Today, Ranaut said, “Dear film industry you all are either celebrating or are totally mum on the airport attack on me. Remember if tomorrow if you walking disarmingly on some street of your country or anywhere else in the world and some Israeli / Palestinian hits you or your children just because you tried to bring eyes to Rafah or stood up for Israeli hostage… then you will see I will be fighting for your rights of free speech, if someday you wonder why I am where I am remember you are not me.”

Devoleena Bhattacharjee, who played a second iteration of Gopi Bahu in the viral Indian drama Saath Nibhana Saathiya, was one of the few celebrities who spoke out about the incident. In a series of tweets, Bhattacharjee said, “It is not just a slap. It’s a matter of Indian security. It can be more dangerous than one can think of. Nothing less than a security threat, should be dealt like one.”






She added that the incident was “deeply troubling” and “such actions represent a severe breach of public trust and security protocols”.






Looks like things are going to get even more dramatic in the Indian political arena.

NEW STRAINS 

WHO confirms first fatal human case of H5N2 bird flu

By

 AFP  June 5, 2024

A person died of bird flu in Mexico in the first confirmed case of a human infected with the H5N2 variant, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

The 59-year old, who died on April 24 after developing fever, shortness of breath, diarrhoea and nausea, had “no history of exposure to poultry or other animals” and “multiple underlying medical conditions”, the WHO said in a statement.

The resident of the State of Mexico was hospitalised in Mexico City and died the same day, the statement said.

It was the “first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with an influenza A(H5N2) virus reported globally”, the WHO added.

Mexican health authorities reported the confirmed case to the UN health body on May 23 after conducting laboratory tests.

The source of exposure to the virus was unknown, the WHO said, although cases of H5N2 have been reported in poultry in Mexico.

H5N2 cases were detected in a backyard poultry farm in Michoacan state in March, with other outbreaks identified in the State of Mexico, according to the UN health body.

But it said establishing a link between the human case and the poultry infections was so far impossible, estimating the risk to people as “low”.

Mexico’s health ministry said in a statement that the person who died was “a 59-year-old man with a history of chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, (and) long-standing systemic arterial hypertension”.

“There is no risk of contagion for the population,” the statement said, adding that “all samples from identified contacts (of the patient) have been negative”. 

Authorities are monitoring farms near the victim’s home and have established a permanent monitoring system to detect other cases in wildlife in the area, the statement added.

A different variant of bird flu, H5N1, has been spreading for weeks among dairy cow herds in the United States, with a small number of cases reported among humans.

But none of the cases are human-to-human infections, with the disease instead jumping from cattle to people, authorities have said.

Australia records first human case of bird flu; outbreak of different strain sparks mass cull of farmed chickens

H7N7 was the most common strain of bird flu in Australia

AAP
22 May, 2024


Auckland businesses plead for greater police presence, more Kiwis rescued from New Caledonia and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calls a general election.

Hundreds of thousands of birds at a country egg farm will be euthanised following an outbreak of bird flu, as a child is confirmed as Australia’s first human case of a lethal strain spreading around the world.

The child, who returned to Victoria from India in March, experienced a “severe infection” after contracting the H5N1 strain but has made a full recovery, Victoria’s chief health officer confirmed on Wednesday.

“This is the first human case of H5N1 avian influenza in Australia,” Clare Looker said.

“The avian influenza virus was detected through further testing of positive influenza samples that takes place to detect novel or concerning flu virus strains, as part of Victoria’s enhanced surveillance system.

“Contact tracing has not identified any further cases of avian influenza connected to this case.”

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Looker said the chance of more human cases was low because avian influenza does not spread easily between people.

Agricultural authorities have revealed a different strain of bird flu had been detected at an egg farm in regional Victoria.

Agriculture Victoria has ordered urgent testing after avian influenza was detected at a farm near Meredith, about 40km northwest of Geelong, following a number of poultry deaths.

Victoria’s chief veterinary officer Graeme Cooke said the outbreak likely involved the H7N7 strain, different to the highly pathogenic H5N1 variant.

“There is a type of virus which is causing great concern in the USA and other parts of the world and has behaved unusually in that it has infected dairy cattle and some other marine mammals,” Cooke told the ABC’s Country Hour.

“This is not the strain that we’re dealing with. This is a strain that’s occurred in Australia before. It’s likely not new.”

H7N7 was the most common strain of bird flu in Australia, Cooke said.



One of the strains in the last bird flu outbreak in Australia in 2020, which affected one-in-three egg farms in Victoria, was an H7 strain.

Samples of the virus have been sent to the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness in Geelong for further testing.

“Agriculture Victoria is responding with staff on the ground supporting the business with further laboratory investigations as necessary,” Cooke said.

The property has been placed into quarantine with a 5km radius and several hundred thousands of birds at that business will be “depopulated”, he said.

“If this disease is allowed to spread, it would very much have an effect on the economic life of the poultry sector but there’s also a lot of jobs in rural Victoria which are related to the industry.”

Farmers in the area have been put on alert. Photo / File

Australia’s chief veterinary officer Beth Cookson told AAP authorities are still considering the size of the quarantine area.


“The response will attempt to stamp out and eradicate the virus from the affected farm, so that will mean the destruction of the poultry on that premises,” Cookson said.

The outbreak has put farmers on high alert with extra biosecurity measures in place.

“For those within that area, we would encourage everyone to increase their level of biosecurity on their farms,” Cookson said.

Mary Wu from the Australian Chicken Meat Federation said while the disease appeared to be confined to a single egg farm, meat producers were on alert.

“We are very relieved that it’s not the international strain, but we still take it extremely seriously and are acting very quickly.”

Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral infection which can cause severe symptoms and sudden death in domestic poultry, wiping out entire populations.


Wild birds are the natural host for the disease and it can spread through close contact or contaminated environments.

Authorities have reassured the public that eggs and poultry products in supermarkets do not pose a risk and are safe to consume.

“The farmer community desperately needs social protection”

Rizwan Hussain, MD & CEO, Salaam Takaful, speaks to Mariam Ali Baig about his mission to provide insurance coverage to Pakistan’s farming community.

MARIAM ALI BAIG

DAWN

PUBLISHED 06 MAY, 2024 


MARIAM ALI BAIG: Let’s start with a brief overview of Salaam Takaful.

RIZWAN HUSSAIN: I have been in this industry for 34 years. I worked with EFU, one of the largest insurance companies in Pakistan, for 27 years. In 2018, my partner and I and our families bought this company, which was then known as Takaful Pakistan Limited. At the time, it was not doing well, so we started to rebuild the image and the business. Today, Alhamdulillah, despite Covid-19 and recent economic stresses, we have become the largest Islamic non-life insurance company in Pakistan. It was a tough and challenging journey.

MAB: Why did you decide to buy this company?

RH: I was fed up. We have the lowest insurance penetration in the region, and this has been the case for the last 30 to 40 years.

MAB: Why is that so?

RH: One, people’s beliefs; halal versus haram; Islamic versus non-Islamic; two, the perceived value of the product for the customer.

MAB: What prompted you to put a significant emphasis on agriculture?

RH: Because I believe people in Pakistan should have the benefit of insurance and social protection.

Crop insurance in different forms has existed for donkey’s years in Pakistan, predominantly pushed by the State Bank of Pakistan through a product known as the Crop Loan Insurance Scheme. However, in our view, the pricing mechanism of this scheme is not beneficial for the farmer and that is why we stepped in and introduced our own product, which is a parametric crop product.

MAB: What is a parametric product?

RH: It is a relatively new concept in the insurance market, and although it has been around for about 10 years, it is only now gaining traction globally, particularly within the social impact space. The companies engaged in parametric products are those that provide coverage for crop damage or damages caused by natural calamities to middle- and low-income people who cannot put themselves back together unless they have some kind of coverage. In this regard, the likes of the Insurance Development Forum, the World Bank and the UN are all engaged in these kinds of initiatives and we believe that if introduced in Pakistan, we could give our farmers the support they need.

MAB: How does this work?

RH: We sell them a product based on a pre-agreed set of parameters, which include excessive rainfall or heat, drought or earthquake, floods and so on. All the parameters are pre-defined. For example, if the heat index hits 50 degrees Celsius over a farmer’s acreage, we will compensate him, no questions asked, and his agreed compensation will automatically go into his bank account. We can do this because we have access to the temperature on his farm on a daily basis through our app. The app also provides farmers with crop advisories, including what to do if the temperature is rising. The beauty of this product is that it requires no human intervention. We do not want to bring in loss adjusters, as this usually creates conflict between the insured and the insurance company. A parametric product may be slightly expensive, but the compensation and coverage it provides are far superior to any product available in Pakistan.

MAB: Do you work with individual as well as corporate farmers?

RH: Yes.

MAB: What is the split percentage-wise?

RH: It would be 95% corporate and five percent individual farmers. The inherent challenge with individual farmers is the lack of penetration, although we have invested a lot in reaching out to them. We have also set up a framework to enable us to go to the farmers directly through NGOs because they trust them. The challenge is the lack of awareness and money. Individual farmers do not have enough money to buy inputs, let alone insurance.

MAB: Do you think a shift to corporate farming would be beneficial to farmers?

RH: It would be because, from the farmer’s perspective, his crop is actually being bought. All he has to do is work with the corporate farming community to produce the required output.

MAB: How technology-driven is your product?

RH: It is all technology-driven. For example, it requires 50 to 60 years’ worth of weather data to even start thinking about it.

MAB: From where do you access your data?

RH: Through local and international sources. Irriwatch in the Netherlands is one of our weather data providers. We are on the verge of signing up for IBM’s data intelligence suite, the GIS system and we are also exploring local solutions, and in this respect, the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission provides an excellent level of data.

MAB: Who crunches the data?

RH: Our in-house team does the data punching and data calibration. This is how we come up with a product that defines the maximum and minimum scope of coverage for the temperature in a particular region based on historical data and trends over the last 10 to 15 years.

MAB: Who manages your app?

RH: Our IT team and Infarmer, our local partner, manage this. After the farmer has mapped his farm, the app will provide him with climate-smart agriculture notifications. The advisory is customised which is why it is important that each farm is mapped because conditions can change every 0.25 kilometres.

MAB: How sophisticated is the farmer?

RH: Farmers are very smart. We send out our field officers to meet them or the communities and train them on using the app; we also provide videos in the local language.

There are almost eight million farmers in Pakistan and only a fraction of them are getting insurance coverage. Yet, the farmer community desperately needs this social protection. For this to work, the community needs to be engaged. We have established almost 25+ partnerships within the ecosystem, including seed and fertiliser companies, NGOs, weather and actuarial modelling companies and banks. There has to be an ecosystem, because only then can we create the required social impact. As an insurance company, I cannot do this alone. I have to create that ecosystem and this takes time. Enabling the technology takes time as well. We have been investing in this product for the last three years.

MAB: Based on what you are saying, the market penetration for this product is very low.

RH: It is almost non-existent. It is only the tip of the iceberg. Farmers don’t have the money. They subsist on a cycle of debt. They buy seeds and fertiliser; they sell the output; and the cycle continues.

On top of that, we don’t have a unified agriculture policy. Since the 18th Amendment was passed, the provinces have a lot more control over how things are run, and the regulatory requirements for each province are different. There has to be a unified push in terms of agricultural policy and how we protect our produce. Unlike Bangladesh, India or Indonesia, where crop insurance is mandatory, in Pakistan it is not. There has to be a fundamental shift so that we look at our produce as providing the country with the food security it needs and you do this by ensuring farmers have access to the facilities they need and by providing them with adequate insurance protection.

Even if the government makes insurance protection compulsory, the farmer doesn’t have the money to buy it.

MAB: What is the solution?

RH: It has to be subsidised. Globally, wherever these schemes have worked, they have been subsidised.

The seed and fertiliser companies and the whole ecosystem should be incentivised so that the cost of the insurance is absorbed by all the stakeholders, including the government and the insurance companies.

For feedback: aurora@dawn.com

South Africa Tiptoes Toward Coalition Politics

M K Bhadrakumar | 02 Jun 2024

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ANC would need help from other parties to re-elect Cyril Ramaphosa for a second term.

Voters waiting patiently in hours-long queues in South Africa’s parliamentary election, May 29, 2024.

The results of the election to the South African parliament on Friday confirmed the widely-held belief that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) which  spearheaded the country’s liberation from apartheid in 1993 and since dominated the political landscape like a banyan tree is in steep decline. ANC’s vote share plummeted from 57.5% in the 2019 election to around 40%. 

ANC’s halcyon days are ending but then, all good things come to an end, finally. ANC could at least hang on for thirty years tapping into the legacy of the freedom struggle, which is not an easy thing to do as politics gets more and more competitive and along with empowerment comes the challenge of accountability. In comparison, India’s Congress Party lost the majority in the parliament in less than 2 decades. 

Broadly, outside of some largely rural provinces, support for the ANC is now in general decline with a strong undercurrent of anti-incumbency sentiment working against it on account of massive unemployment, extremely high level of interpersonal violence, collapsing social services, and brazen corruption.

ANC would need help from other parties to re-elect Cyril Ramaphosa for a second term. The three other major parties are the liberal-oriented Democratic Alliance [DA], the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters [EFF] and the new MK Party [MK] led by former President Jacob Zuma, who once led the ANC. 

DA, which polled over 21% votes, is an established liberal party, white-dominated and also funded by white capital. EFF, on the other hand, is an authoritarian  populist party, non-ethnic in its support base and orientation and polled a little over 9% of votes. 

The big winner seems to be MK, a breakaway faction of ANC, which entered the electoral fray for the first time and surged on a tide of Zulu nationalism to garner 14.83% of votes. 

The likely character of the incoming ruling coalition is not yet clear. Unsurprisingly, the Western media is rooting for a ANC-DA coalition. DA has plateaued and is eager to align with the ANC despite its ideology of national liberation to share power.

The massive investments by the white billionaires in a set of new liberal parties failed to produce the desired results in Wednesday’s election. None of those parties gained traction. The DA is the solitary exception but even in this case, the mediocrity of its leadership and its inability to distinguish differences in pitch in the complex race politics puts inherent limits to the potential for growth beyond its current limits. Many black South Africans mistrust the DA, believing it favours the interests of white people.

Therefore, there is bound to be resistance within the ANC to a tie-up with the DA under white politician John Steenhuisen, whose free market programme of privatisations and an end to black economic empowerment programmes sits at odds with the ruling party’s traditions. 

Nelson Mandela’s grandson and an outgoing ANC lawmaker,  Zwelivelile Mandela told AFP, the DA held “different ideals” making it too difficult to partner with. He predicted that the radical left groups led by former ANC figures — firebrand Julius Malema’s EFF or Zuma’s MK — were more likely bedfellows for the ruling party. 

But then, arguably, these radical options might also meet resistance within the more moderate sections of the ANC. Besides, the rift between Ramaphosa and Zuma — who has long been bitter about the way he was forced out of office as president in 2018 — remains to be mended. 

Amidst all this maneuvering within the political class, it is difficult to gauge the popular mood, given the vice-like grip of the white liberal media over the national discourse. Thus, the gravity of the deep sense of political alienation driving many voters into forms of anti-liberal and at times anti-democratic populism is being blithely overlooked in the obsession to undermine the ANC’s towering presence on the political landscape.

Without doubt, the ANC has become an eyesore for the Western powers. South Africa’s active role in the BRICS and advocacy of multipolarity and “de-dollarisation”, its audacious move in the ICJ against Israel’s war  crimes in Gaza, its closeness to Russia and China and so on are hugely consequential to western interests in the contemporary world situation. 

The hold on the digital media in South Africa by white capital gives it significant power to shape the national discourse, but there is no attempt to understand the deep alienation of deprived sections of society, leave alone address it critically. Suffice to say, this is fertile soil for ethnic politics to strike roots. The paradox is, the legacy of one of the most progressive movements in the history of anti-colonial liberation may turn out to be the rise of ethno-nationalism and populism under darkly comic political personalities similar to Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsonaro or Javier Milei. 

The crux of the matter is that the left has failed to present a credible alternative to the predatory form of ethnic nationalism and populism spawned by the terrible circumstances of poverty and deprivation in which most South Africans struggle to live. Not a single leader in the manner of Lula da Silva or Jeremy Corbyn is to be seen who could unify the left. All this leaves the field open for the predatory and kleptocratic political class to unleash the demons of ethnic politics. 

Come to think of it, Zuma convinced 2.3 million South Africans to vote for MK Party. The MK wants to increase the power of traditional leaders, nationalise banks and expropriate land without compensation, dating South Africa’s “prolonged period of national shame” back to 1652, when the first Dutch settlement was established. 

As for the EFF, it describes itself as anti-imperialist and inspired by Marxism. EFF also advocates taking land from white farmers and nationalising mines, banks and other strategic sectors, without compensation. It says that apartheid did not end in 1994, arguing that the democratic settlement left the economy in the hands of “white monopoly capital”, a message that resonates in a country where four in 10 adults are unemployed. 

The bottom line is that as with the mainstream Congress Party in India, there is no real alternative to the ANC as a unifier, which still retains the loyalty of many voters for its leading role in overthrowing white minority rule and its progressive social welfare and black economic empowerment policies are credited by supporters with helping millions of black families out of poverty.

MK Bhadrakumar is a former diplomat. He was India’s Ambassador to Uzbekistan and Turkey. The views are personal.

 

Courtesy: Indian Punchline

Why is Modi’s BJP obsessed with anti-Pakistan rhetoric this election cycle?

Experts and analysts believe this year's polls are all about the common man's issues.




Sujatha Balasubramaniam

Published June 3, 2024

DAWN/PRISM 

“INDI gathbandhan ke neta kehte hain k Pakistan ne choodiyan nahi pehni hain, arre bhai pehna denge. (The politicians of INDI alliance say Pakistan has not worn bangles, oh brother we will make it wear them.)”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s jibe at an election rally in Muzaffarnagar last month was aimed more at his political opponents than the neighbouring country. The remarks, a direct response to an earlier comment by National Congress leader Farooq Abdullah, underscore the heightened political tensions and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) efforts to galvanise voter support through strong nationalistic sentiments.

With the tenure of the 17th Lok Sabha of the Indian Parliament scheduled to end on June 16, India just completed its 44-day election cycle — starting April 19 and ending June 1 — to elect 543 members to the Lok Sabha.

This wasn’t the first time that Pakistan had been dragged into India’s political rhetoric. Over the years, the BJP has increasingly used the neighbouring country as a rhetorical punching bag, particularly as the campaign has heated up in successive elections cycles.
Distortive narratives

The recent escalation, with PM Modi taking jabs at the INDIA bloc — a multi-party alliance led by the country’s largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress — using Pakistan, can be traced to an interview of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, published by the Press Trust of India.

During the interview, Singh had asserted that India didn’t need to forcefully capture Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) since people were willing to be a part of India having witnessed the developments in Indian occupied Kashmir. The annexation of AJK remains a prominent and contentious agenda on the BJP’s election manifesto, fuelling further debate and drama.

According to media reports, Abdullah, in response to the defence minister’s statement, said: “If the defence minister is saying so, they can go ahead and do it, but remember they are also not wearing bangles; the country has atom bombs, and unfortunately, the bombs will fall on us.”

A few days later, an old video of Mani Shankar Aiyar resurfaced, creating quite a stir. In the clip, the veteran Congress leader can be heard referring to Pakistan as “the biggest asset to India” and advocating for dialogue with the neighbouring country.

Unsurprisingly, his comment was taken out of context, inciting a political firestorm. Aiyar’s remarks were interpreted by some as suggesting that India should engage with Pakistan out of fear of the latter’s nuclear arsenal — a stark misrepresentation of what the Congress leader actually meant.

During the Muzaffarnagar rally, Modi seized on this distorted narrative and accused the Congress-led INDIA alliance of being scared of Pakistan, suggesting that leaders of the bloc seem to be plagued by nightmares of Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities.
BJP’s campaign strategy

“The BJP’s Pakistan rhetoric during this election is different from 2019, which was all about the Pulwama-Balakot attacks and deterrence. It was built on the interplay between terrorism from Pakistan and nationalism from India; that’s why the BJP took the stand: ‘Ghar me ghus ke maarenge (We will enter your homes and hit you)’,” said A*, a professor of international relations at one of India’s largest universities, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivities surrounding the topic.

“But in 2024, the rhetoric revolves around a decision taken in August 2019 — revoking Article 370 of the Constitution. It is built around taking control of all of Kashmir. The prime minister has been emphasising Pakistan’s economic and political instability, as well as its involvement in Afghanistan and the resulting backlash.

“This was to portray Pakistan as a weakened state. Previously, the BJP’s narrative centred around branding Pakistan as a hub of terrorism. However, the narrative has now evolved. The message being conveyed is that while Pakistan remains a terrorist state, it is now weak and fragile, in stark contrast to India’s growing strength on the global stage,” A* continued.

During the 2024 elections, the BJP’s campaign strategy has included a blend of anti-Pakistan rhetoric, Hindu-Muslim dynamics, and foreign policy stances designed to appeal to voters in the west and north of India. Yet, these themes have not resonated as much in the eastern and southern parts of the country.

“Even among those who support these views, it’s uncertain if they will translate into votes,” A* added.

During various election rallies, India’s Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have said that if the BJP comes back to power, the party will move aggressively on “taking back” AJK, as the party has always mentioned in its manifesto, to reclaim the part of Kashmir that lies on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control (LOC).

Concurring with A*, Ajay Darshan Behera, a professor at the Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, said: “It was all about Pulwama back in 2019. Congress had a similar manifesto in a limited way back in 2019, but once Pulwama happened, the opposition was totally blown away by the BJP’s nationalist narrative.”

“In 2024, the rhetoric on Pakistan has diminished due to visible fatigue among the voters. People are more worried about day-to-day problems like unemployment and inflation. After 10 years of BJP rule, they have realised the false promises made by the BJP. After 10 years of BJP rule, many have become disillusioned with the party’s unfulfilled promises.

“This time, the opposition has wisely avoided getting entangled in the BJP’s anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim narratives, focusing instead on concrete issues that directly impact people’s lives,” Behera added.

Meanwhile, Modi and his party did not just continue to bring Pakistan into their election campaigns but also went on to accuse Congress, the main opposition party, of supporting and receiving support from the neighbouring country.

On May 1, Pakistan’s former information minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted a video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with the comment, “Rahul on Fire”. The tweet went viral, racking up 1.8 million views.

BJP leader Amit Malviya, head of the party’s IT Wing, responded, “Is the Congress planning to contest the election in Pakistan? From a manifesto that has imprints of the Muslim League to a ringing endorsement from across the border, Congress’s dalliance with Pakistan can’t get more obvious.”

Behera, however, dismissed this as yet another attempt to distort reality. “For no reason, Mani Shankar Aiyar’s old video has been brought up during this election, with BJP campaigners claiming that Pakistan wants Rahul Gandhi to be the prime minister and that Congress will support Pakistan if they come to power. But these false narratives are not working; people are more concerned about other things now,” Professor Behera added.

‘People don’t care anymore’

Bharat Bhushan, senior journalist and former editor of Economic and Political Weekly and The Telegraph, raises a pertinent question: “BJP leaders have always claimed that Pakistan wants Congress to win. Why should Pakistan care about Indian elections until and unless there is a provocation? But that’s the BJP’s usual narrative, and Fawad Chaudhry’s tweet gave the BJP even more of a reason to accuse the Congress of getting support from Pakistan.”

“People don’t care anymore. The prime minister does this again and again to ginger up his base. It is only the hardcore BJP supporters want to hear this; it’s for them.”

Bharat said that Modi projects himself as a statesman and goes on to hug Biden, Trump, and all the world leaders to project himself as a great world leader. But back home, he is a majoritarian Hindu leader who makes demeaning comments like “Churiyan pehna denge (We will make you wear bangles)” against Pakistan.

According to Bharat, the BJP appeared to have resisted the temptation to use anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim rhetoric in the initial stages of its election campaign. “But perhaps worried by the low voter turnout, the prime minister soon switched to his old tactics,” said Bharat, quoting Modi as saying at a public rally that “‘Muslims give birth to four children, and if Congress comes to power, they will distribute the wealth of Hindus to Muslims’, which was never mentioned in the Congress manifesto,” the journalist pointed out.

The BJP does not talk about jobs for youth given that unemployment has been the highest in the last four decades, neither does it discuss resolving farmers’ issues — actual issues that many Indian voters care about. Meanwhile, India’s relationship with Pakistan has come to the lowest level during the BJP rule. It does not have high commissioners or visas for Pakistanis, there is no trade relationship between the two states, diplomatic relations have hit rock bottom, and the BJP is thriving only on its anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan rhetoric.

India’s foreign policy with respect to Pakistan has also remained highly questionable. According to a recent report by The Guardian, India’s foreign intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (Raw), has been involved in the killings of up to 20 individuals in Pakistan since 2020 as part of its policy to target terrorists living on foreign soil.

The report further mentions that India has previously denied any involvement in the assassinations, but after the Guardian report, India’s defence minister was quoted as saying: “If

Has India’s first family finally lost its grip on power?

Namita Singh
Sun, June 2, 2024 
INDEPENDENT UK

Left to right: Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi at an election campaign rally in Rae Bareli (Reuters)


A ripple of excitement spreads through the crowd waiting outside in the 40C midday heat in this corner of Uttar Pradesh, northern India – an island in a sea of constituencies supporting Narendra Modi’s BJP.

“Rahul-ji’s helicopter has come!”, announces an audience member, not long before campaign songs start to blare from speakers and Rahul Gandhi, India’s second-most recognisable politician, steps onto the stage.

This was the scene just a couple of weeks ago in one of the last bastions of fervent support for the Gandhi-Nehru family, one of the world’s great political dynasties whose members include three Indian prime ministers. Among them is Rahul Gandhi’s great-grandfather, the first and longest-serving leader of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Yet India has changed dramatically since the time when Nehru led the Congress party, with Saturday’s exit polls indicating that Mr Modi’s Hindu nationalist alliance will take more than 350 parliamentary seats when the full results of the country’s general election are announced on Tuesday.

Congress and its allies are forecast to win barely a third of that number, making it a third election in a row where India’s grand old party has desperately underperformed. They say the BJP’s widespread abuse of government investigative agencies to harass opposition leaders and parties, including a total freeze on Congress’s bank accounts, mean this election has been neither free nor fair.

But it is also significant that cracks were already starting to show even in Rae Bareli and Amethi, two neighbouring constituencies in Uttar Pradesh that were once the safest of seats for Congress, when The Independent visited last month. For years the Rae Bareli seat was represented by Sonia Gandhi, former Congress president and wife of the assassinated former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. She has stepped aside for a seat in India’s upper house of parliament, leaving her son Rahul to take over the constituency, and poor exit poll numbers aside, he is still expected to win here.

Rahul Gandhi waves to supporters during an election campaign public meeting in Rae Bareli (AFP)

While support for the Gandhis still seemed strong in Rae Bareli, voters in Amethi told The Independent they were questioning what Congress has to offer them given its weakened status across the country, and whether five years with a Congress MP would really make for positive change in a relatively rural and impoverished region. It gets to the heart of a question that will be picked over in the weeks to come – did Congress run an effective and positive campaign, or focus too much energy on trying to paint Modi as India’s bogeyman? And what does yet another election loss say about the future of a family that has ruled India for more than half of the last 77 years?

When Mr Gandhi does take to the stage, he is quick to go on the attack. “This election is the strangest one in the history of independent India,” he begins. “Because the BJP and [its ideological parent organisation] RSS are fighting the elections to obliterate the constitution. Their leaders have clearly said they will change the constitution of India once voted to power.”

Mr Gandhi is referencing concerns that Mr Modi, emboldened in a third term, will try to remove references from the constitution to India being a secular nation, and instead declare it a country for Hindus. Mr Modi has said he has no plans to do this, but it’s a talking point for many die-hard BJP supporters and such fears have hardly been assuaged by an aggressive election campaign full of anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Congress party supporters in Rae Bareli (Reuters)

The Independent spoke with Mr Gandhi’s sister, Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra, who is herself a top party strategist and star campaigner. Asked what Congress had to offer voters at this election, she said: “Our pitch is very simple. Mr Modi’s policies have been extremely, they’ve actually been harmful for the poor of this country, for the farmers, for labourers [and] even for the middle class. Frankly, he has not done anything to strengthen them.

“We are saying that his policies have all been skewed towards three or four of his oligarch friends to whom he seems to be handing everything, even the nation’s assets,” she says, an apparent reference to Mr Modi’s close ties with billionaire industrialists like Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, the country’s two richest men.

“And we are saying that we want to put in place a government that is focused on solving your problems and focused on strengthening you so that you can face all these problems that have multiplied under Modi’s rule.”

Narendra Modi with Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, waves to the crowd in Varanasi last month (AFP)

While most would agree that this election has been far from fair for Congress and its allies, the party is also facing criticism for an apparent inability to recover from the landslide losses of 2014 and 2019 and provide a viable alternative to Mr Modi. Sugata Srinivasaraju, journalist and author of a book on Rahul Gandhi, Strange Burdens, suggests the Gandhis have spent too much of the election preparing to defend their own roles in the party in the event that they lose.

“They are creating a ground already to say that the elections may not be so credible after all. That it is possible they are stolen. They are planting doubts with regard to the electoral processes,” he tells The Independent.

“My question is when you spent so much energy on a negative campaign, on berating Modi, you could have spent a part of that energy to positively approach your own party. What have you done concretely to reorganise your party?”

Children riding a bicycle wear masks portraying Narendra Modi in Varanasi (AFP)

Facing relentless criticism from the government benches that Congress exists as a party only to further the ambitions of one family, in 2022 the party held an election to appoint a president from outside the party’s ranks. Among those running were Shashi Tharoor, a former high-ranking UN official and author popular with Indian liberals and young people. In the end the party chose Mallikarjun Kharge, a Gandhi loyalist who Mr Srinivasaraju describes as no more than a “rubber stamp” for the family.

“Why didn’t you, in the last 10 years, focus [on rebuilding the party] after your first loss in 2014?” he asks the Gandhis. “Why didn’t you spend that energy building the infrastructure and network for your party? You did not focus on that, you just placed it on one side. You thought you will come back by default again.”

Congress party leader Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra at an election rally in Dhubri district in lower Assam (AP)

There are a host of reasons given by voters in Amethi for why they are turning their backs on the Gandhis, and these range from the local to the religious.

Several cite Mr Modi’s inauguration of a temple to Lord Ram in Ayodhya, also in Uttar Pradesh, as a moment of pride for them as Hindus. With the Ram Temple’s first phase hastily built in time for Mr Modi to declare it open just before the election, it was another moment of history in the country’s lurch towards Hindu nationalism, with the prime minister acting as high priest at a grand monument to Hinduism’s most important deity – on the site of an illegally demolished mosque.

Awadh Prasad Patel, who sings holy songs at religious gatherings, vows to vote for Mr Modi, saying members of his caste support the party. “Only Muslims and a few Dalits [formerly Untouchables] might vote for Congress,” he says. “I am a farmer and a follower of deity Lord Ram. And Modi put an end to the issue of Ram temple. So we would be voting for them.”

“For the longest time, there was no road here. Just potholes,” Chotey Lal Sahu, a 65-year-old from Berara, a village in the Amethi constituency, tells The Independent. “It was filled with water (during the rainy season). But now there is a road. Its construction has eased things for us,” he says.

“Under this government, we are getting ration, we are getting pension. This is the first time the country has a vegetarian prime minister, as well as a vegetarian chief minister,” he added, referring to the firebrand local BJP leader in the state, chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

A Congress party rally in Dhubri district (AP)

Ram Shankar, from Tiloi in Amethi, vociferously backs the BJP. “Rahul gave us a lot. But Thakurs [upper caste men] have taken everything. From land to grazing area to pond. There is nothing left.

“I raised a complaint about waste pipe leaking but the police came and beat me. They also beat my father,” he says. “I will vote for the BJP. At least they give money to farmers and have waived off some of my loans.

“I do not care what Rahul Gandhi or his family did, as I was not there. We will only vote for those who will fight for our rights. There is no road, it is just mud. People s*** on the roadside. And our head of village never visits us.”

Modi at a rally in New Delhi (Reuters)

Issues relating to caste and religious politics are powerful tools to sway voters here in Uttar Pradesh, and Congress has been seen as largely reactive in its response to the way Hindutva [Hindu-first] policies have won waves of support for Mr Modi’s party. For a time Congress was accused of doing “soft Hindutva”, showing Gandhi touring Hindu temples as a way of saying the party could still appeal to the religious group that makes up around 80 per cent of the population.

But more recently the party has realised it will never win back the die-hard Hindu nationalists that make up the BJP’s base, Mr Srinivasaraju says, and it is instead “trying to present the Congress as a complete opposite to the philosophy of the BJP”.

“[Gandhi] started speaking about federalism and balkanised caste politics, which was in contrast to the centralised and pan-Indian imagination the Congress was known for not so long ago. He started saying that India was a union of states and not exactly a nation,” he says. “I think Rahul Gandhi is trying to occupy a kind of high moral ground because there is nothing else left.”

Many will question whether Congress picked the right strategies for this election if the results on Tuesday go in line with what the exit polls are saying. But whatever reckoning is due, it seems certain that the party’s first response will be to publicly question the fairness of the world’s largest election.

Rahul Gandhi greets his supporters as he arrives at Fursatganj airport in Amethi last month (AFP)

“It’s the first, possibly the first election in the history of India, where chief ministers from opposition parties have been imprisoned during election time,” says Ms Gandhi-Vadra, as she highlights the challenges faced by the opposition. “There has been a massive attack on opposition leaders in India. Not just opposition leaders, but on free and fair media. So there’s hardly any journalists now who will take an independent stand. The ones who did have either been imprisoned or cases have been put against them.

“On every front, whether it’s activists, journalists, political parties or movie stars who have raised their voices. On every front, the government has attacked them.” The harsh reality for the Gandhi family and its party is that it has had no real defence against the onslaught it has faced from the man now set to become the first after Nehru to win three terms as India’s prime minister.

The Mystery of Indira Gandhi's assassination by her own bodyguards

Breana Scheckwitz
Updated May 23, 2024

The Mystery of Indira Gandhi's assassination by her own bodyguards

Indira Gandhi, a prominent Indian politician and the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's inaugural prime minister, was tragically assassinated by her own bodyguards on Oct. 31, 1984.

Born Nov. 19, 1917, she emerged as a central figure in her country's political landscape, eventually becoming prime minister in her father's footsteps.

The trust she placed in her favorite Sikh security guard, following Operation Blue Star, ultimately proved to be a fatal mistake. In exploring the narrative of Gandhi's assassination, it is crucial to examine the backgrounds and motivations of her assailants, shedding light on the reasons that led to their fatal decision.


Prior to her time in office, Indira Gandhi studied at prominent institutions, including Somerville College, Oxford and the Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal.


Gandhi served as her country's third and only female prime minister starting in 1966 to 1977, and then served another term from 1980 until she died in 1984.

As a central figure of the Indian National Congress, she was admired for her leadership and criticized for her authoritarian approach. She played a significant role in Indian politics and is often cited as a trailblazer for women throughout the country.

Gandhi was a key player in Indian politics for 17 years, whether in office or out of it. She played an active role in the Independence movement and closely worked with her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, a pivotal figure in the establishment of contemporary India, serving as his assistant when he was prime minister. In 1959, she also held the position of president of the Indian National Congress.

Indira Gandhi's tenure has been characterized by significant economic and social changes, but also by allegations of authoritarianism.

Gandhi rose to power suddenly after Lal Bahadur Shastri died in 1966. At the outset of her leadership, India struggled with significant economic hardships, including high inflation and food shortages. The country's agricultural sector was vulnerable due to its dependence on the monsoon seasons and aid from the U.S.

She also faced substantial political challenges and dedicated much of her tenure to overcoming these issues, the same issues Nehru attempted to resolve. She fought to direct India toward self-reliance and economic resilience. By 1980, India had become self-reliant and even became a nation of grain surplus, alongside notable industrial progress — achievements attributed to her governance.

Indira Gandhi's involvement in politics began at an early age, often accompanying her father on his political campaigns.

Acknowledged milestones during her leadership include the triumph in the 1971 War with Pakistan, the formation of Bangladesh and the cementing of India's status as a potential nuclear power. All of these developments strengthened India's self-esteem.

Her tenure ended with her assassination, leaving behind a legacy of achievements and unresolved tensions.

Indian society was divided about her; some called her "Mother Indira," and others viewed her as authoritarian. However, it is widely accepted that her leadership shaped India and set the course for its future.

Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards on Oct. 31, 1984, following the events of Operation Blue Star.

Gandhi's time as prime minister was impaired by increasing tensions with Sikh separatists, culminating in Operation Blue Star. This was the Indian army's response in June 1984 to remove militant Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers, who had hidden themselves within the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The militants' substantial armaments led to a heavy-handed military response, which included the use of artillery.

The conflict ended on June 10 with the army seizing control of the temple. However, the operation, which coincided with a significant Sikh religious event, resulted in numerous civilian deaths who were present at the time. This resulted in widespread condemnation from Sikhs globally. They interpreted it as an attack on their religious community.

Indira Gandhi served as prime minister of India for three consecutive terms (1966-77) and a fourth term from 1980 until her assassination in 1984.

The repercussions of Operation Blue Star severely damaged Gandhi's standing with Sikhs, which eventually led to her assassination.

Gandhi's assassination on Oct. 31, 1984, was committed by her bodyguards, notably Beant Singh, who was considered a favorite. The assassination was a consequence of the tensions from Operation Blue Star and led to a planned reassignment of Sikh bodyguards, including Singh. Gandhi canceled the transfer, worried about increasing her anti-Sikh persona.

Indira Gandi married Feroze Gandhi in 1942, and together had two sons, Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi.

On the morning of her assassination, despite being advised to wear a bulletproof vest, Gandhi was not wearing it.

As she walked through a gate headed to an interview, Singh shot her three times in the abdomen with his .38 revolver. Satwant Singh, another bodyguard, fired 30 rounds from his submachine gun. Following the assault, Beant was located and killed by Border Police, and Satwant was tried and executed in 1989.

Indira Gandhi’s son, Rajiv Gandhi, succeeded her as prime minister of India.

 

West Bengal: Student Leaders Leading Left Revival in LS Polls

Peoples Dispatch | 14 May 2024

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In West Bengal, where left parties were elected to rule for over three decades until 2011, over a half dozen young leaders are waging a battle to defeat sectarian, anti-people politics of the right-wing parties

Left Front candidate Dipsita Dhar.

Student leaders are waging a difficult but determined battle to revive the electoral prospect of the left in the ongoing national elections in India. These young politicians have taken up the challenge to put the people’s agenda in front in their electoral campaigns and defeat the right-wing parties.

In West Bengal, the fourth most populous state in India, Dipsita Dhar (30), Srijan Bhattacharya (31) and Pratikur Rahman (33) are three representatives of this young brigade which is putting a spirited fight against both the Trinamool Congress (TMC) ruling the state and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governing at the center.

All of these candidates have been or still are leaders of the student movement and members of left-wing student organizations. They represent the changing expectations of India’s youth and appear to strike a chord with the people. They wish to restore the sanity in politics of the state and defeat the politics of religious and sectarian divide which has been the strategy of the rightward parties.

Read more: Center-left alliance challenges the ruling right alliance in India’s national elections

The essence of their platform is what Mohammad Salim, the state secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), calls Haq, Rozi-Roti (Rights, Employment and food). With Haq, Rozi-Roti they seek to combat rising unemployment, lack of basic and adequate public services, and the failure of the state to provide a decent living standard to the majority and curb rising prices and stand for the policies which will bring peace for all.

These young candidates in West Bengal are also pointing out how both right-wing parties are primarily protecting the interest of the few at the cost of many by dividing the majority in the name of caste and religion. They emphasize the need for working class unity in the state which they allege has seen a complete failure of governance in the last decade. So far, their campaign has managed to generate enthusiasm and optimism, with many suggesting that the Left may see a significant comeback, not seen since its 2011 upset in West Bengal.

Reviving the Left in Bengal

West Bengal is one of the largest provinces in India with a population of over 90 million as per the 2011 census. It has 42 seats in the Lok Sabha, the popularly elected lower house of the Indian parliament. This has been one of the strongest bastions of the Left in India, both as a popular movement and in electoral terms.

The Left governed the state for over 34 years, winning six consecutive elections, until 2011.

Following the defeat in 2011, Left has faced a series of challenges in terms of electoral defeats and targeted violence against its cadres by both the TMC and the BJP. The Left has lost hundreds of its cadres in the right-wing violence unleashed in the last decade.

In these elections, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is contesting 22 seats and other left parties are contesting eight. Congress, a centrist party, is part of the nationwide INDIA alliance against the right-wing Narendra Modi led BJP government, is contesting the remaining 12 seats.

Out of these 22 seats, CPI (M) has fielded eight candidates who are below 40 years in age including Dhar, Bhattacharya and Rahman. All three of them are affiliated to the Student Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the party and India’s largest left-wing student organization.

Dhar is currently getting her PhD at the Center for the Study of Regional Development at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Since starting her studies, she has been an active student leader and is currently the All India Joint Secretary of SFI.

Dhar is contesting the Srirampur Lok Sabha constituency where polling is scheduled to be held on May 20 during the fifth phase of India’s seven-phase national election. She is pitted against two-time sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Kalyan Banarjee from the TMC.

During her campaign Dhar has emphasized that her fight is a part of the larger struggle of the left. This includes the struggle to create democratic space, especially in West Bengal where this space has been compromised due to violence unleashed by the TMC. Dhar has also highlighted the need for the revival of the industrial base in the state so that more jobs are created and people do not have to migrate to find jobs. There is a need to fight against the sectarian divide as well which is created by the TMC and BJP for their electoral purposes, she says.

Dipsita, like most of the other young candidates in the state, participated in mass canvassing in the 2021 state assembly elections. Thus, this year’s candidates are already familiar with the people in their respective constituencies and have an established rapport with them.

Srijan Bhattacharya is contesting from Jadavpur which will vote on June 1. He is the former West Bengal secretary of the SFI.

Prateekur Rahman, the candidate for Diamond Harbour, is the present national vice president of the SFI. Rahaman is contesting against the heavyweight TMC leader Abhishek Banarjee. Diamond Harbour also votes on June 1 in the last phase of the elections.

In his campaign, Rahman has focused on the issues related to farmers, pointing out that the TMC and BJP have implemented anti-farmers policies and have not provided them relief amidst the rising costs of food production and lack of adequate prices of their produce in the market. Rahman himself has faced numerous violent attacks from the ruling TMC cadres.