July 1, 2024
Central Committee Communique
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New Delhi on June 28-30. It has issued the following statement:
18th Lok Sabha Election Results
The Central Committee discussed the results of the 18th Lok Sabha and concluded that these constitute a significant setback for the BJP. The people of India, asserting their defense of the Constitution, the secular democratic character of our republic, and expressing deep concerns over sharply declining livelihood conditions, have ensured that the BJP does not receive a majority, unlike in the last two Lok Sabha elections. Rejecting the BJP’s shrill pronouncements of winning 400-plus seats, they gave it a tally of 240, which is 63 less than in the 2019 Lok Sabha. Overall, the BJP lost 92 sitting seats, but by winning 29 new seats, its net loss is 63. This leaves it 32 seats short of a majority. However, with its allies winning an additional 52 seats, Modi now has an NDA government with the support of 292 MPs, i.e., a mere 20 more than the required majority.
Parties of the INDIA bloc rallied the people to together win 234 seats, 38 short of a majority. All the constituents of the NDA alliance together got 42.5 percent of the polled votes, while INDIA bloc parties together got 40.6 percent of the votes. The difference in vote share between the two combinations is less than 2 percent—1.9 percent. Despite these adverse results and being forced to form a coalition NDA government, the BJP launched a relentless offensive to reestablish Modi’s hegemony. Given the fact that its overall vote share marginally declined by a little over 1 percent, it seeks the consolidation of Hindutva consciousness that it had pursued through the last decade.
For further intensification of communal polarization, a series of attacks against the Muslim minorities have been unleashed from the day after the results were announced. Simultaneously, the weaponization of the Central agencies continues to target the opposition, including us. FIRs against journalists, the re-arrest of Arvind Kejriwal by the CBI, sanctions for prosecution of Arundhati Roy, etc., continue unabated. By reappointing the NSA and the PM’s Principal Secretary, Modi traveling to Italy to meet G7 leaders on the sidelines of the Summit which had no agenda for India; by re-inducting nearly all elected former ministers to head the same ministries they held in the last Cabinet, and getting reelected Om Birla as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha who suspended nearly 150 MPs, a narrative is sought to be generated that it is ‘business as usual’ under Modi.
Under these circumstances, the Central Committee concluded that the struggles for the defence of the Indian Constitution, secular democracy, federalism, and people’s civil liberties, along with the struggles for improved livelihoods for the vast majority of the Indian people, will have to be intensified both inside and outside Parliament. The CPI(M) will undertake this task both jointly with secular democratic parties and independently across the country.
CPI(M)’s Performance
The CPI(M) played a role in mobilizing working people in struggles against the Modi regime’s policies and in rallying the secular forces against the RSS/BJP and thereby contributed to strengthening the INDIA bloc. However, the performance of the Party is disappointing. The CPI(M) contested 52 seats this time compared to 71 in 2019. Of these, it won 4 seats (Tamil Nadu 2; Kerala and Rajasthan 1 each). The Left as a whole has 8 MPs [CPI(M) 4, CPI 2, CPI(ML) 2].
The Central Committee critically evaluated the Party’s performance in all the states where we had contested, with serious self-introspection. The weaknesses and the shortcomings were identified and pinpointed. The Party’s state committees will now carry forward the implementation of tasks worked out to overcome these shortcomings and further strengthen the Party.
Protest Attacks on Minorities
The Central Committee condemned the spate of horrific attacks against the lives, livelihood and properties of members belonging to the Muslim community in various parts of the country in the aftermath of the setbacks received by the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.
A total of five Muslim men have been reported killed in attacks directed against them from Raipur in Chhattisgarh, Aligarh in UP and Chikhodra in Gujarat.
Following unsubstantiated allegations of “cow slaughter” or “recovery of beef”, the houses of 11 Muslims were demolished in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh, the shop of a Muslim man was vandalised and many others forcibly closed down in Nahan, Himachal Pradesh and a clash took place in Balasore, Odisha.
While a Muslim woman was prevented from occupying a flat allotted to her in a low-income group housing complex in Gujarat’s Vadodara, in Delhi’s Sangam Vihar, residents were forced to flee following recovery of a cow carcass and provocative speeches being made by members of Hindutva outfits. In Jabalpur, Hindutva outfits organised a menacing demonstration threatening Muslims to leave the city.
Such sharpening of communal assaults following the reversals suffered by the BJP highlight the fact that the Hindutva communal forces are intensifying their attempts at polarisation with a renewed vengeance.
The Central Committee of the CPI(M) calls upon all Party units to remain vigilant against such unscrupulous manoeuvres by the BJP and other communal outfits. Party units throughout the country should organize protest actions immediately against such vicious attempts.
Exam Scandals: Education Minister Must Resign
The Central Committee expressed its deep concern at the anguish and trauma faced by lakhs of students, their parents and others affected by the scandals surrounding the exams conducted by the National Testing Agency.
The CC reiterated its vehement opposition to the NEP 2020, which advocates centralisation, commercialisation and communalization of education. The centralisation of the examination system is part and parcel of this drive. The CC is of the firm view that the handing over of the probe to the CBI is an attempt to whitewash, like it did with the Vyapam scam.
The Union Education Minister has lost the moral right to continue in office and should submit his resignation forthwith. The CC also demands the scrapping of the centralised examination system, disbanding of the NTA and the reversal of all initiatives towards centralisation of the education system.
Don’t Implement Criminal Laws
The Central Committee of the CPI(M) voiced its strong opposition to the insistence of the Modi government to proceed with the implementation of the new criminal laws from July 1, 2024.
These laws passed in haste, without debate, in a blatantly autocratic and anti-democratic manner, when a large number of opposition MPs were suspended from Parliament, are draconian in nature.
While the Supreme Court had quite correctly done away with Section 124A of the IPC which defined ‘Sedition’, this is surreptitiously brought in as Section 152 of the new Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, and along with it are references to the sovereignty and integrity of India which were not there in the original Section 124A. While it is a blatant flouting of the Supreme Court judgment, the new law will make it much easier to charge and convict people of being ‘anti-national’.
There are many provisions which increase police powers to the detriment of citizens. For instance, the new laws give scope for police custody of an accused beyond the 15-day limit set in the previous law. The new provision means a judge can remand an accused to police custody up to 90 days. Even the lodging of an FIR will be done only after inquiry up to 15 days by a police officer in the case of a cognizable offence.
Another extremely dangerous aspect is that while investigation of charges under UAPA are carried out by a senior police officer, charges under the new Section 152 will be investigated by an IO at the police station. While under UAPA, the Government had to give sanction to prosecute someone, under the new Nyay Sanhita, an ordinary police officer can prosecute anybody for terrorism.
While it is a fundamental principle of law that ‘no one can be convicted of an offence unless what they do was criminal at the time committed’, what will happen after 1 July is that for an FIR filed before 1 July, the substantive law that was in force at that time will apply but for FIRs filed after 1 July, the new substantive law will apply.
This means that both laws will run concurrently and there will be disputes as to which system is to be applied. Appeals will also become very complicated. These new laws introduce both uncertainty and vagueness as to what the law says, which is unacceptable. This will only add to the huge backlog of criminal cases running into lakhs.
The CPI(M) joins the Bar associations, concerned citizens and civil society organisations who have voiced serious concerns in demanding that the implementation of the new laws be put in abeyance, given the various genuine concerns, and their regressive and draconian nature.
24th Party Congress
The Central Committee approved a time table for holding Party Conferences at all levels from the month of September 2024 leading up to the 24th Congress scheduled to be held in April 2025.
(Muralidharan)
For Central Committee Office