Main Campaign Points of Left Front in Lok Sabha Election 2014

Main Campaign Points of Left Front in Lok Sabha Election 2014

• The election is not a contest between this leader or that. We want a Government based on alternative policies.
• Stop the neo-liberal policies which have increased the misery of the people. Stop the danger of communalism. Form a pro-people Government with alternative policies.
• We want Parliamentarians who will raise the voice of the working people in the Parliament. To do so increase the number of parliamentarians from the Left parties.
• Central Government’s policy is responsible for price rise. TMC is a mute observer. To stop price rise, increase the strength of the Leftists in Parliament.
• No to the politics of foundation stone laying! Yes to industries! No to false promises! Yes to proper development!
• No to the politics of falsehood! Yes to the Leftists!
• Stop farmers’ suicides! Provide remunerative price to the farmers! For the benefit of the farmers, strengthen the Left in Parliament.
• It is a Government of scams at the centre. It is a Government of scams in the state too. Give your verdict against corruption. Elect the Left. • Stop the anarchy in the education sector perpetrated by the ruling party in the state.
• Stop the forceful usurpation of the Panchayat and municipalities by the ruling party.
• Maintain unity and harmony by defeating the TMC’s malicious plan of joining hands with the communal forces. Defeat the nexus of the communal forces and the Trinamool congress and strengthen the bond of Unity-fraternity-harmony.
• Defeat the Trinamool Congress, the facilitator of the chit funds in the state. Save Bengal from the hands of the fraudsters.
• You can safeguard your right to democracy, right to move freely, right to expression. Defeat the Trinamool Congress.
• Women’s dignity is at stake. Bengal’s pride is shattered. Defeat TMC, the facilitators of criminals.
• TMC is the force committed to breaking the unity of the people. For maintaining unity defeat the Trinamool congress.
• Defeat the liars, defeat Trinamool. Make the leftist victorious.
• Support the Leftists. Remove the mask of the TMC’s false promises.
• No APL-BPL demarcation. For everyone Ration at subsidized rates.
• Every family has to be given in a month 35 Kgs of rice at Rs. 2 per Kg.
• The attack on women everyday in the rule of the TMC has to be stopped.
• Sky rocketing of prices of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and other essential commodities has to be checked.
• The TMC’s attack on individual rights and democracy has to be countermanded.
• By confiscating the property of the chit funds, the looted money of the people has to be returned.
• Stop corruption in the name of TET. Give due importance to knowledge. Employ the right candidates as teachers.
• Ensure fair price for the farmers for their produce.
• Stop price rise. Abolish commodity entry tax.
• To stop the aggression of Congress-BJP Government at the centre, enhance the strength of the Leftists.

Walking around Lok Sabha General Elections '2014 - who is going to govern India?

Walking around Lok Sabha General Elections '2014 - who is going to govern India?
BY BIMAN & DHEEMAN

After an emphatic victory in 2009 Lok Sabha elections Congress Party led UPA-2 started on a high by winning almost full majority on its own. But the term has been marred with controversies and corruption allegations. Commonwealth Games scam, Adarsh Society scam and the biggest of all, the 2G scam. Fuel and commodity prices have risen sharply in the past few years adding to the woes of common man. Crusade against black money and corruption by Anna Hazare and to some extent Ramdev has only added to the woes of Congress. Congress shrewdly took offense is the best way to defend policy. For every scam or corruption news that comes out, they bounced back with equally controversial news against rival parties. Their projection of Rahul Gandhi, who has not yet proved any political sense, as a Prime Ministerial candidate may help them to create a central issue in their campaign build up to 2014 polls.

Main opposition party Bhartiya Janata Party fought against itself and the inner fight made its leaders failed to capitalize on core issues of price rise and corruption against the Congress. BJP has also lost a lot of mass appeal leaders over the years. Most popular elder in India Atal Behari Vajpayee has now retired from active politics. Charasmatic leader and face of modern India, Pramod Mahajan was killed in a tragic incident. Stalwarts like Govindacharya and Jaswant Singh were thrown out. Prime Ministerial candidate Murli Manohar Joshi has been made to sit on the sidelines with no influence on national level politics. L K Advani is close to retirement years and firebrand Sushma Swaraj hasn't proved to be a winner yet. That leaves the party with only one leader of mass appeal, Narendra Modi. Though it is not clear enough that whether he is ready to leave Gujarat and join National level politics. Besides, everyone knows Congress will play the anti-minority tag aginst him quite well.

Third Front parties have been reduced to play a minority role at the center over the past few years. Leaders like Lalu Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Jayalalitha, Mayawati are no longer king makers. Most of them have been left with no option than to support the ruling Govt, in this case the Congress.

The new contender for 2014 polls is Kejriwal but his antics and what he did in Delhi has just thrown most of his supporters away from him. He seems to be another face of Congress who has been promoted just to cut some Modi votes and eventually help Congress. 

Who is participating for what?

While the incumbent Congress party is fighting to defend its record of the past 10 years, it also intends to project itself as a protector of the secular fabric of the country. Which is why, time and again, the party is bringing history into play against its principal opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, beyond this, there is practically nothing new that the ruling party is offering in order to save its territory. It is seeking votes for continuity.

The BJP is fighting for a change at the centre and is hoping to gain from the fault lines in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule over the past 10 years. However, the ideas for change emerging from the BJP campaign so far have been very general in nature. As of now, it appears that the BJP intends to ride the governance theme and its claim to provide better leadership than the incumbent UPA. But this is something that any opposition would do in any election. This is also very similar to what the party did in 2009.

The most interesting lot to watch is the regional parties. The comparatively bigger ones, such as Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Trinamool Congress, have not allied with either of the larger alliances.

Interestingly, they want to defeat both the leading parties, but do not want to work with each other before elections. The whole idea for these parties is to win as many seats as possible and hope for a hung Lok Sabha. There are many who would want to be king in such a situation, but may be willing to settle for king maker for a bargain. Other smaller parties such as Rashtriya Janata Dal and Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar, for whom the fight is of being politically relevant, are choosing their sides.

The other interesting player in this election is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Although it is not clear what exactly it is fighting for, it is obvious what is it fighting against, which is practically the entire political establishment. Simply put, the AAP is basically fighting for attention and some presence in the 16th Lok Sabha, which will enable it to be politically relevant and allow it to spread its wings nationally in times to come.

As things stand today, in the absence of big ideas, one factor that could affect the outcome for both the leading parties could be that of leadership. While the BJP has projected a prime ministerial candidate in Narendra Modi, the Congress party has postponed the question of leadership for a later date. Clearly, if the BJP had also decided to defer the leadership issue, the numbers in the opinion polls and the political environment in the country at this stage would have been very different. 

Election Manifestoes of various political parties

Congress: It has the biggest manifesto. Copies of RTI and Lokpal bills have been attached. However, the booklet containing its manifesto will be blank – just like the incumbent Prime Minister. The grand old party also plans to attach a Ludo game for the youth and a make-up kit that is aimed at attracting women voters. To make sure the electorate take note of the manifesto, jobs under the MNREGA could be promised for those who read the bills that will be attached.

BJP: The party has decided that all of its election material, including the manifesto, will be published with a hologram with “272” embossed on it. All pages are supposed to have a picture of Narendra Modi and a map of Gujarat. Last few pages have been left blank, to accommodate any new parties or leaders who may join before or after elections. Sushma Swaraj has objected to a couple of pages in the manifesto, but those pages have not been removed.

AAP: The latest party has listed millions of its achievements in the manifesto. All these achievements were accomplished by its 49-days government in Delhi. A topi will also be attached to the manifesto, which will help a reader totally believe everything that is written. A dart game will be given free where people would be expected to throw darts at a board with picture of Narendra Modi.

Samajwadi Party: The front pages of the manifesto have faces of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders (from within the family, strictly). It has hit upon a brilliant idea to project itself as a party that looks ahead. Its manifesto will be made of green recycled paper, which also happens to be wordplay on their election symbol, the cycle.

BSP: Similar to Samajwadi Party, party’s manifesto will consist of pictures only – pictures of dalit icons, poor people, parks, statues, cash, etc. – all on blue background. The last few pages have images of the collection of Mayawati’s handbags.

DMK: It has only two points on the agenda for its manifesto – no one from the DMK had anything wrong to do in the 2G scam. Accusing the Congress of dividing and ruling the country, it wants that DMK should be allowed to multiply and rule.

AIADMK: Jayalalithaa has promised that she will lead the people to a domination of the world and it has been written in the manifesto in a script that only the revolutionary leader of AIADMK can read. To make sure the electorate reads the promises, 14 inch television sets will be distributed along with the copies of the election manifesto.

Sources have further told Faking News that leaders of regional parties like PMK, JMM, Naga People Front, Peace Party of India, Telugu Desam, Zoram National Party and others are likely to meet in Delhi shortly. They may announce that they will have the same manifesto and only the names on the cover of the booklet will be changed.

Issues in air - West Bengal

• Rice at Rs.2 per kg for the poor
• An 'employment bank' for job seekers
• Industrial growth in an industry-starved state
• Redcing the BPL by at least 10 percent
• More effective implementation of self-employment schemes of the central government
• Increase productivity in agriculture by adopting high-quality technology
• Adequate price to farmers for their products
• Technology upgrade in pulses and oil-seed production to attain self-sufficiency
• Food production will be increased by 25 percent
• Building a marketing federation to distribute farm produce
• Industrial growth by setting up industrial clusters of small-scale and handicraft industries
• Emphasis on manufacturing, IT, petrochemical and biotech sectors
• 'Single Window System' through which permission for building new industries will be given within 200 days
• A land bank will be set up with consensus being the key word in land acquisition
• A 'Bengal Land Bank Authority' will be set up to formulate a policy regarding planning and implementation to earmark land for long-term industrialisation

Candidates in West Bengal - Loksabha Election - 2014

Candidates in West Bengal - Loksabha Election - 2014

1 – Dipak Kumar Roy (AIFB) (Cooch Behar),
2 – Monohar Tirkey (RSP)(Alipurduar),
3 – Mahendra Kumar Roy (CPI-M) (Jalpaiguri),
4 Saman Pathak (CPI-M) (Darjeeling),
5 – Mohammed Salim (CPI-M) (Raiganj),
6 – Bimal Sarkar (RSP) (Balurghat),
7 – Khagen Murmu (CPI-M) (Malda North),
8 – Abul Hasnet Khan (CPI-M) (Malda South),
9 – Muzzafar Hossain (CPI-M) (Jangipur),
10 – Pramathes Mukherjee (RSP) (Baharampur),

11 – Badarudzza Khan (CPI-M) (Murshidabad),
12 – Santanu Jha (CPI-M) (Krishnagar),
13 – Archana Biswas (CPI-M) (Ranaghat),
14 – Debesh Das (CPI-M) (Bongaon),
15 – Subhasini Ali (CPI-M) (Barrackpur),
16 – Asim Dasgupta (CPI-M) (Dum Dum),
17 – Murtazza Hossen (AIFB) (Barasat),
18 – Nurul Huda (CPI) (Basirhat),
19 – Subhas Naskar (RSP) (Joynagar),
20 – Rnku Naskar (CPI-M) (Mathurapur),

21 – Abdul Hasnat (CPI-M) (Diamond Harbour),
22 – Sujan Chakraborty (CPI-M) (Jadavpur),
23 – Nandini Mukherjee (CPI-M) (Kolkata South),
24 – Rupa Bagchi (CPI-M) (Kolkata North),
25 – Sreedip Bhattacharya (CPI-M) (Howrah),
26 – Sabiruddin Mollah (CPI-M) (Uluberia),
27 – Tirthankar Roy (CPI-M) (Srirampur),
28 – Pradip Saha (CPI-M) (Hooghly),
29 – Shakti Mohan Malik (CPI-M) (Arambag),
30 – Sheikh Ibrahim Ali (CPI-M) (Tamluk),

31 – Tapas Sinha (CPI-M) (Kanthi),
32 – Santosh Rana (CPI) (Ghatal),
33 – Pulin Behari Baskey (CPI-M) (Jhargram),
34 – Probodh Panda (CPI) (Medinipur),
35 - Narahari Mahato (AIFB) (Purulia),
36 – Basudeb Acharya (CPI-M) (Bankura),
37 – Susmita Bauri (CPI-M) (Bishnupur),
38 – Ishwar Chandra Das (CPI-M) (Bardhaman East),
39 – Sheikh Saidul Haque (CPI-M) (Bardhaman Durgapur),
40 – Bangsha Gopal Choudhury (CPI-M) (Asansol),

41 – Ramchandra Dom (CPI-M) (Bolpur) and
42 – Kamre Elahi (CPI-M)(Birbhum).

Price rise most burning issue for farmers: CSDS survey

Price rise most burning issue for farmers: CSDS survey
Sample size 5,000 households with 11,000 interviewees
Price rise, not corruption, will be the most important issue for farmers when they go to vote in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, says a Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) random survey. The sample size comprised 5,000 farming households with 11,000 interviewees including 4,298 women and 2,115 youths. Issues of unemployment and lack of irrigation will be other concerns that will influence the target group farmers.

Only 10 per cent of those interviewed believed that poor and small farmers got the benefit from farmer related schemes. Education, health and employment emerged as the major responsibilities that worry Indian farmers, the respondent group said.

Fifty-seven per cent of the people interviewed were “not sure” about which political party cared for farmers. Another 13 per cent opted for “others.” While 16 per cent said the BJP cared for farmers and 13 per cent named the Congress, one per cent said the Left parties cared for farmers.

The survey, carried out between December 2013 and January 2014, did not take into account the Aam Aadmi Party or the parties ruling in the States. Also, the sample size was too small and random for it to be truly representative.

Asked who they would vote for, 31 per cent said “can’t say,” 20 per cent said “others,” while 30 per cent said they intended to vote for the BJP, 17 per cent for the Congress and two per cent for the Left parties.

The study, commissioned by the Bharat Krishak Samaj, said around 47 per cent farmers felt the overall condition of farmers was bad and 58 per cent thought both the State and the Centre were responsible for their problems.

Sixty-one of the interviewed farmers said they would leave farming and migrate to the cities if they got employment there. Only 20 per cent of the 2,115 youths interviewed said they would continue farming.

Thirty-seven per cent of the farmers said there had been no change in their economic condition in the last 10 years, although 47 per cent were optimistic about their future. Contrary to the general opinion, a low proportion of farmers worried about repayment of loan. Their major worry appeared to be the future of their children, explained Sanjay Kumar, director of CSDS.

About 85 per cent farmers had heard of MGNREGA. Of them, 51 per cent said their household did not get work under the job guarantee scheme.

Seventy per cent had heard about the Direct Cash Transfer scheme but only 34 per cent supported the idea of subsidy benefits going directly into their bank accounts.

Of the 27 per cent who had heard about the Land Acquisition Act, 57 per cent said that farmers stood to lose from this law.

Eighty-three per cent of the respondent farmers had not heard about Foreign Direct Investment. Of them, 51 per cent said FDI should not be allowed since farmers may not be able to bargain. However, 40 per cent farmers of landless farmers supported the idea.

Strangely enough, about 62 per cent of the farmers were not aware of the minimum support price.

[Published in The Hindu, NEW DELHI, March 14, 2014]

Education News

Education should be a prime development agenda

Concerned over the neglect of children's education in election manifestos, the Right to Education (RTE) Forum, a collective of national education networks, on 13th March urged the people to start questioning politicians on their efforts to promote education at every given opportunity in the run-up to the polls.

A call to this effect was given at the National Stocktaking Convention on RTE Implementation here with participants maintaining that bijli-sadak-paani (BSP) alone cannot be the indicators of development.

Education should also be considered as an indicator; in fact, it should be made the prime development agenda.

Another demand raised at the day-long meeting pertained to extending the RTE to cover the entire spectrum of school education from pre-primary to higher secondary.

Criticising the public-private partnership model of development in school education, the participants said the focus must be on strengthening the public system.

Handover of government schools to private players must end and every effort ought to be made to strengthen the government system of education, the forum demanded.

The meeting drew participation from 18 States across the country and the refrain of most participants was that government funding for the RTE was inadequate. While the figures provided by the government in Parliament in the last session put the provisional expenditure on education as a percentage of the GDP at 4.17 per cent during 2011-12, the forum said the figure continued to be around 3.3 per cent.

Dwelling on the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (the fund created by the Centre to finance elementary education), the report on the status of implementation of the RTE noted that the fund — which began as a measure to inject additional amounts to supplement the government’s own support — has become more of a substitute.

All States and political parties have been found equally guilty of ignoring the RTE and treating it like any other scheme of the government, instead of as a fundamental entitlement of children.

Only 10 per cent of the schools were found to be complying with the RTE norms.