The CPI (M) General Secretary said that cooperation among the opposition is needed in order to ensure that the country we are born in remains the country we were born in
Key Congress ally in Kerala, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Sunday rejected the ruling CPI(M)'s overtures to take part in its seminars on the hotly debated Uniform Civil Code (UCC), claiming that the Left party was trying to create "conflict" and "division" by not inviting the grand old party. The IUML said it was implied from the CPI(M)'s invite that it had "no good intentions" and there was no need for a seminar which divides people -- a response that comes as a blow to the Left party which was optimistic of seeing the League take part in its first seminar to be held on July 15 in Kozhikode district of the state. Throwing its weight behind the Congress, the League said without the grand old party's leadership and support, it would not be possible for anyone to fight against the UCC at the national level as it was an issue concerning everyone in India and not just the Muslims. The IUML announced its decision after a meeting of the party leadership at Panakkad here followi
Upset over the overtures by the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala to Congress' key ally IUML in connection with the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the grand old party on Monday alleged the Left party was trying to turn it into a Hindu versus Muslim issue for gaining political mileage. A day after CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan reached out to Muslim organisations in the state, including IUML, for discussions on the UCC issue, the Congress claimed that the Left party was "walking the same path" as the BJP which was allegedly trying to create communal unrest and divide the people by pushing for implementation of the UCC. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said that his party was in agreement with the 2018 finding of the Law Commission that UCC was "unnecessary and not desirable". "However, in our state (Kerala), some are trying to turn it into a Hindu versus Muslim issue and the CPI(M) is championing such efforts. They are saying it is a Hindu-Muslim issue. It is not something that would affec
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Monday alleged that the Trinamool Congress was complicit in violence in West Bengal and practising double standards by speaking for democracy to oust the BJP and denying the same in the state. The statement comes days after the CPI(M) and Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) took part in a meeting of opposition parties which resolved to fight together against the BJP. Referring to the panchayat polls in West Bengal, Yechury alleged that it has become a norm that elections under the TMC will be marked by large-scale violence and terror. He said 10 people have already lost their lives including a young CPI(M) activist Mansoor Alam. "They can't say they want democracy in India and therefore, oust the BJP, and then in Bengal ... you throttle democracy. That is not acceptable," he said at a press conference at the end of a two-day Polit Bureau meeting in Delhi. "Despite such politics of violence and terror, the people of West Bengal a
Days after the mega opposition meeting in Patna, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticised the role of CPI (M) and Congress, saying despite her efforts to form a grand opposition alliance against the BJP at the Centre, their actions as playing second fiddle to the saffron camp in the state are throwing a spanner in the efforts. Drawing the battle lines, opposition parties on Friday resolved to take on the BJP unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at a crucial meeting, even as fissures emerged with the AAP asserting that it would be difficult for it to be part of any such gathering in future till the Congress publicly supports it on the ordinance issues. Over 32 leaders, including Banerjee, of more than a dozen political parties, had attended the meeting hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna. "We are trying to form a grand alliance (Mahajot) against the BJP at the Centre. But the CPI (M) and Congress are trying to work with the BJP in Bengal. I will brea
The NIA has arrested one person in the CPI (Maoist) terror funding case in connection with efforts being made to revive the banned outfit in the Magadh zone of Bihar, an agency official said on Monday. The arrested accused, Anandi Paswan (46), has more than five criminal cases registered against him at various police stations of Bihar, a spokesperson for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said. The NIA said raids conducted on the premises of Paswan, a resident of Nirakhpur village in the Kinjar area of Arwal district, led to the seizure of illegal arms and ammunition on February 12 last year. Paswan is the fourth person to be arrested in the case, registered in 2021, related to the terror financing network being jointly operated by CPI (Maoist) cadres and overground workers (OGWs) in the Magadh region. The NIA had earlier nabbed Tarun Kumar, Pradyuman Sharma and Abhinav alias Gaurav. The agency chargesheeted two accused in the case on January 20. "NIA investigations so far ha
A political fight has erupted between the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala and the opposition Congress regarding the fake certificate issue in the state with the grand old party on Thursday accusing the Left Front of protecting those involved in illegal activities. The CPI(M) on the other hand refuted the allegations against it on the issue and also came to the aid of its student wing SFI, whose two former members are facing charges of using fake certificates. While expelled SFI leader Nikhil Thomas is accused of submitting a fake certificate for admission to the M.Com course in a college in Kayamkulam area of Alappuzha district of the state, former SFI member Vidya K Maniyodi is facing charges of furnishing a fake teaching experience certificate to secure a guest faculty post in a government college. Vidya, who was absconding for nearly two weeks, was arrested on Wednesday night from a village in Kozhikode district and Thomas was expelled from SFI's primary membership on Tuesday. Dissatisf
He further said that the demand of bank retirees was not fulfilled even though the All India Bank Retirees' Federation has met the Finance Minister four times in the past one and half years
Under attack from various quarters for his statement targeting the media, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan on Tuesday made a U turn, claiming that his remarks were misinterpreted and that he did not say the media would face legal action for reporting against the Left government in the state. Accusing the media of adopting the approach of making sheep into dogs, Govindan said here that he was only responding to the "conspiracy" involved in blaming the state secretary of SFI, the student wing of the CPI(M), in connection with a mark list controversy in a government autonomous college in Kochi. A woman journalist of a leading news channel was booked by police in a conspiracy case on SFI leader P M Arsho's complaint. Adopting a hard stand on the matter, Govindan had said that any anti-government or anti-SFI campaign in the name of reporting would invite action. His statement targeting the media was slammed by opposition parties, cultural icons, and the media fraternity in the souther
The government has gone overboard in creating a "hype" that the Railways has become a smart and speedy mode of transport but all is not well with the system and the Odisha accident is a wake up call, the CPI-M has said. The Left party also said a "legitimate" question is being raised on why Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has not resigned following the June 2 train crash in Odisha's Balasore. Several opposition parties have asked for Vaishnaw's resignation since the accident. The crash involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train killed 288 people and injured over 1,000. "At the political level, a legitimate question raised is why the Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, has not resigned owning moral responsibility for this worst railway accident in the last two decades," the latest editorial of the party's mouthpiece 'People's Democracy' said. "In 1956, Lal Bahadur Shastri had resigned as railway minister f
"It is unfortunate that some elected representatives are turning out to be political turncoats even after being elected by people"
Their explanations will then be scrutinised in the next state committee meeting of the party and sources in the know of things say that it wouldn't be surprising if a few heads roll
CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Fridat released the Marathi biography of veteran party leader Narasayya Adam
After a video of a brand new Rs 5 million-worth MINI Cooper purchased by the wife of a top CITU leader went viral, the CPI(M) launched a probe
"In times of crisis, Trinamool Congress has always provided clandestine support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi," said CPI(M)
Amid the opposition's objection to Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the new Parliament building, Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam on Wednesday said, it is a 'drama'
Earlier, Aam Aadmi Party and Trinamool Congress announced to boycott the inauguration ceremony of the new Parliament building by PM Modi
In the wake of Congress emerging victorious in Karnataka Assembly polls, there appears to be a difference of opinion in the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala over the role the grand old party should play to defeat the BJP in the 2024 general elections. While Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan expressed the view that the Congress was weak in several parts of the country and cannot take up the fight against BJP on its own, state Fisheries Minister Saji Cheriyan differed in his stance by pointing that the grand old party should lead from the front. Vijayan, after inaugurating a public meeting at Guruvayoor in Thrissur district organised by the ruling LDF as part of its second anniversary celebrations, said the Congress should realise that it is not as strong as it was in the past and batted for a "state-wise" strategy of uniting anti-BJP forces to take on the saffron party. "We should work according to the changing scenario on the ground and the Congre
The ruling CPI(M) and opposition parties in Kerala on Saturday welcomed the Congress' victory in the Karnataka assembly polls, stating it was an indication of public sentiment against BJP's alleged divisive and communal politics. The CPI(M), IUML and the Congress also said the vote trend in Karnataka also shows the BJP's waning influence in south India. On the other hand, BJP leader and Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan put up a confident stance by saying that the party had lost in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh assembly polls in 2018 but won in all those states during the 2019 parliamentary elections. "So, you can analyse that. BJP has won and lost in elections. Loss in one election does not mean the end of the party," he contended. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan welcomed the outcome of the poll result and said the BJP has been ousted from south India. He also asked the Congress to learn from its mistakes and move forward. "With tod
CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami on Monday led a protest in Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital to mark International Labour Day, demanding the implementation of the Minimum Wages Act in letter and spirit while abolishing the contractual system of employment. He alleged that contractual and daily wage employees in the Integrated Child Development Scheme and the National Health Mission were deprived of basic minimum wages. "Our demand is that minimum fixed wages be given to every worker as set by the labour conference," Tarigami told reporters after the protest at Residency Road here. The Left leader said Kashmir has a history of struggles against labour exploitation. "In Zaldagar Kashmir, labourers had protested for their rights even before the May Day protests in Chicago in 1886. Workers here had fought against the taxes imposed by the then government," he added.