The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Wednesday criticised the Narendra Modi-led Central Government over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and announced a statewide campaign to raise awareness on protecting voting rights.
The issue was discussed during a meeting of the CPI(M) State Committee, where State Secretary Sanjay Chauhan presented the political and organisational report. Vikram Singh, member of the party’s Central Committee, also presented a report adopted by the central leadership, outlining the party’s position on national and international developments.
Chauhan said the central government was “attacking democracy” and depriving crores of voters of their rights through the SIR process. He also accused the Election Commission of India of working in collusion with the BJP, claiming recent Assembly election results indicated cooperation between the two.
The CPI(M) also expressed concern over what it called the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government on actions by Israel and the United States against Iran, Venezuela, Cuba and Palestine. It said the conflict had triggered a global economic crisis, leading to inflation and rising unemployment worldwide.
The party said the war had also impacted the Indian economy, causing shortages of LPG, petrol and diesel, which it said had adversely affected farmers and ordinary citizens.
On the state’s economic situation, CPI(M) blamed both Central and state governments’ neo-liberal policies for the fiscal stress. It also condemned the Centre for discontinuing the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) to the state, saying it would cause an annual loss of Rs 7,000–?8,000 crore and increase the state’s debt burden.
The party demanded immediate restoration of the RDG, along with compensation for farmers affected by recent hailstorms and heavy rains, release of pending dues under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS), and a halt to loan recovery proceedings against affected farmers.
