ML UPDATE 03 / 2012

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol. 15 No. 03 10 - 16 JANUARY 2012

 

Assembly Polls in UP:

Tainted Leaders Play Musical Chairs

Five states go to polls in January-February – with most political formations vying to exhibit the most bare-faced opportunism and hypocrisy. While ruling for­mations hastily try to jettison the embarrassing baggage of tainted leaders in a bid to present a 'clean' face in the polls, rival parties scramble to take these same tainted leaders on board!

In UP, with the announcement of elections, Maya­wati dismissed four more Ministers. The total of Ministers sacked by Mayawati in an image-makeover has reached 20. Even now, 16 of her Ministers, including her close aide Naseemuddin Siddiqui, and several BSP MLAs are facing enquiry by the UP Lokayukta in various scams. Mayawati resorted to the dismissals as a desperate face-saving exercise when the scandals of corruption, rape and murder made these leaders too hot to hold. The belated dismissals only underline the fact that Mayawati's regime has been notoriously marked by unrelenting corruption and crime. Among the worst scandals of all was the NRHM scam, involving the murder of two CMOs, and also one Deputy CMO inside the premises of Lucknow jail. The Minister implicated in the scam – Babu Singh Kushwaha – was known to be a close confidant of Mayawati's. Even as the dismal rural health conditions in UP caused an encephalitis epidemic that claimed the lives of thousands of children in five years, with the death toll crossing 500 in the past year of Mayawati's regime, and high maternal and child mortality rates, Kushwaha presided over the plunder of NRHM funds.

The BJP, seeking to improve its fortunes in the state, was quick to lap up several of Mayawati's more influential discards, including Kushwaha. Asked about the charges of corruption and criminality faced by those inducted by the BJP, the party's spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi answered with a knowing grin, "All dirty streams find their sins washed away when they enter the Ganga." Soon after, however, the CBI raided Kushwaha's premises as part of its enquiry into the NRHM scam. When the induction of Kushwaha made the BJP's opportunism a subject of common derision, leading to several dissent­ing voices within the party, senior BJP leaders even tried out laughable excuses: for instance, Yashwant Sinha earnestly told the media that Kushwaha was in the BJP as a "whistleblower"!! Eventually, when the embarrassment reached a height, Kushwaha was persuaded to appeal that his membership be 'kept on hold' until he was cleared of all charges.

The BJP might eventually have shed the embarrassing burden of Kushwaha – but the fact remains that other former BSP Ministers inducted by them, as well as sev­eral other BJP candidates, face equally serious charges. For instance, three former BSP Ministers who are now BJP candidates, Badshah Singh, Awadhesh Varma and Daddan Mishra face corruption charges. Daddan Misra is also implicated in the incident at Shravasti in 2007 in which 17 Muslim women were gang raped and paraded naked. Chhatrapal Singh, a BJP candidate, was found guilty by a Parliamentary panel in the cash-for-query scam as a Rajya Sabha member, while another BJP candidate, Sakshi Maharaj, is a three time MP who was once jailed on rape and sexual assault charges. BJP might have been planning to use the anti-corruption plank as its chief electoral issue – but instead, it has got the image of being a refuge for the tainted; to the extent that Purushottam Naresh Dwivedi, the BSP MLA from Naraini who is now in jail on charges of raping a minor girl, publicly expressed a wish to join the BJP so that his 'sins may be washed away'!

Nor is BJP the sole offender on this count. The Sama­jwadi Party refused to induct the notorious 'bahubali' DP Yadav, though many senior SP leaders publicly pushed for his inclusion. However, other criminals who figure in the SP's list of candidates include the murder-accused Amarmani Tripathi's son Amanmani Tripathi; Mitrasen Ya­dav, who was recently convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment in an embezzlement case; and former BSP MLA Bhagwan Sharma alias Guddu Pandit, accused of abducting and raping a college girl in 2008. The SP is also very likely to extend its support to the notorious feudal mafia, Raghuraj Pratap Singh "Raja Bhaiyya" as an independent candidate, as the party till now has not fielded its own candidate from his seat.

Meanwhile, the Congress, which has been expressing righteous outrage at BJP's induction of Kushwaha, might want to answer why its alliance partner RLD has recently inducted former BSP MLA Shanawaz Rana, who was sus­pended by BSP after his aides were arrested for kidnap and attempted rape of two girls in Muzaffarnagar. Nor is such opportunist conduct foreign to the Congress itself. On the eve of the last Assembly polls in Bihar, Congress

has taken the notorious criminal Pappu Yadav into its fold. Similarly, NDA alliance partners Nitish Kumar has been deploring BJP's induction of tainted BSP discards in UP, conveniently forgetting that his own JD(U) had taken in the tainted ex-RJD leader Taslimuddin on the eve of the Bihar Assembly polls, and had boasted of several other criminal politicians on its candidates' list in Bihar, including Sunil Pandey and Dhumal Singh.

In a season when corruption has emerged as a key issue in popular consciousness, the various political formations are vying to climb onto the anti-corruption bandwagon. However, the political game of musical chairs played by corrupt and criminal politicians on the eve of the Assembly polls, only goes to underline how, when it comes to the ruling class parties, 'hamam me sab nange hain' (all are equally bare in the bath.) The opportunism and hypocrisy of all such parties calls out to be exposed and taught a lesson in the Assembly polls.

 

Assembly Elections

Punjab: Braving the bitter cold and rain more than 3000 people assembled in Mansa on 6th January to inaugurate the election campaign for three assembly seats in the dis­trict. A large number of agricultural labourers, brick kiln workers, peasants and rural youth participated. The rally was addressed by Comrades Mangat Ram Pasla of CPM(Punjab), Swapan Mukherjee- Party's CCM, State Sec­retary Rajwinder Singh Rana, AIKM President Ruldu Singh, AIALA leader Bhagwant Singh Samao and others. A rally was also taken out in the town.

CPI(ML)(Liberation) Candidates for the Punjab Legislative Assembly election:

(1) Budhlada (SC)- Bhagwant Singh Samao, (2) Mansa-Gurjant Singh Man­sa, (3) Nandgarh- Gurmeet Singh, (4) Bhador(SC)- Gurpreet Singh Roohee, (5) Maur- Harbinder Singh Sema, (6) Bhucho(SC)- Amizal Singh, (7) Dirba(SC) – Govind Singh Chaggli.

Gujarat Panchayat Election: In Valsad district of Gujarat, CPI(ML) candidate has won on one sarpanch(women) seat and 10 ward members (out of 13). In Jharoli panchayat we won one ward mem­ber. This is the 1st victory of CPI(ML) members and supporters in Gujarat panchayat elections. All winning can­didates are adivasis.

 

Bhagalpur Bandh Called by AISA-RYA

Day-long Bhagalpur bandh (shut­down) called by All India Students' Association and Revolutionary Youth Association on 23rd December 2011 received tremendous response from the students and youth making the bandh a remarkable success. The bandh was called by AISA-RYA to protest continued corruption, repres­sion-injustice, powerlessness of the students and academic anarchy in the Tilka Manjhi University and also the arbitrariness of the private lodges.

Hundreds of students took to the streets of Bhagalpur to implement the bandh call. AISA has been agitating in the University for removal of the corrupt and authoritarian VC, an enquiry by the vigilance dept into the B.Ed. scam and continuing irregularities in the examina­tion branch along with entire tenure of the Vice Chancellor KN Dubey; putting and end to police' recklesness in the campus, withdrawal of all cases slapped against the agitating students, holding Student Union elections, im­mediately filling all the vacant teaching and clerical posts, ensuring 180 days of teaching in an academic year and declaring results within 45 days. On the other hand, RYA too has been agitating for registration of private lodges, fixa­tion of their rents, distributing kerosene oil to the students residing there among other demands. The organization had handed over a memorandum to the Dist. Magistrate in this regard. When there was no meaningful response from the administration this bandh was declared. AISA and RYA leaders Rupesh Kumar, Gautam, Rinki and Gaurishankar led the bandh.

 

Towards AIPWA's National Conference: Assam Diary

Since the last National Conference, the All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) organisation has not grown in Assam as much as there is potential in the State. AIPWA has organised successful programmes, e.g. in October 2010, a massive rally of thousands of ASHA workers was organised in Guwahati. AIPWA vigorously participated in the anti-corruption movement and in the movement against big dams by KMSS. On the completion of 10 years of Irom Sarmila's fast demanding withdrawal of AFSPA, AIPWA launched several programmes in the State as per the all-India programmes. AIPWA also took part in various anti corruption programmes.

In Nowgaon, particularly the Aan­ganwadi Helper Union has been or­ganising various programmes. Though AIPWA has an overall scope for organi­sational work among the middle class women, however, at present its yet to be realised. The political situation has changed a lot in the State. At present there is no strong role of opposition in Assam. The govt. has launched many programmes like Majoni, Mamoni, Nobou, Baidew etc, to attract women. In movements like anti-big dam, the Assamese women are taking active part being a part of KMSS and these are rural women. AIPWA supports them and at different times has par­ticipated in their programmes, there remains much scope for interaction, that has yet to be realised due to lack of adequate initiatives.

AIPWA handed over a charter of de­mand to the Assam Govt when Tarun Gogoi took charge. In the charter the demands were- make the ASHA and Aanganwadi workers permanent and to increase their pay, provide facilities to the women tea garden workers, make provision for separate protection officer for effective implementation of domestic violence prohibition act, con­tinue Majoni, Mamoni etc., stop corrup­tion in the PDS and in the distribution of schemes under social welfare dept, provide 30% job for women under NREGA, reconstitute the state women commission, to increase the maternity leave to six months, to reserve 50% seats for women in the autonomous councils, to constitute family courts at every district head quarter.

Along with some other organizations AIPWA leaders visited places of witch-hunting and met the administration discussed the matter and demanded steps to immediately stop the horror.

At present the highest member­ship is in Nowgaon district. AIPWA has been facing a problem of cadre buliding. The magazine Jonaki Baat is regular and there are some study circles in different towns which also take part in various programmes with AIPWA.

 

S. No	AC No.		AC Name		Candidate's Name		Sex		District
1st Phase - 08 February
1	147		Hargaon (SC)		Arjun Lal		M		Sitapur
2	149		Biswan		Sant Ram		M		Sitapur
3	277		Katehari		Menhdi Hasan		M		Ambedkarnagar
4	281		Akbarpur		Dev Vrat		M		Ambedkarnagar
2nd Phase - 11 February
5	315		Pharendra		Vinod Mani Trip­athi		M		Maharajganj
6	317		Siswa		Harish Jaiswal		M		Maharajganj
7	321		Pipraich		Rajesh Sahni		M		Gorakhpur
8	325		Khajani (SC)		Shyamacharan		M		Gorakhpur
9	330		Padrauna		Nasrullah Ansari		M		Kushinagar
10	337		Deoria		Prem Lata Pandey		F		Deoria
11	340		Bhatpar Rani		Sriram Kushwaha		M		Deoria
12	342		Barhaj		Kalaktar Sharma		M		Deoria
13	345		Sagri		Ramayan Ram		M		Azamgarh
14	356		Mau		Basant Bhardwaj		M		Mau
15	359		Sikanderpur		Sriram Chaudhary		M		Ballia
16	362		Bansdih		Lal Sahab Ram		M		Ballia
17	373		Jakhanian (SC)		Lal Bahadur Bagi		M		Ghazipur
18	375		Ghazipur		Kamlakar Ram		M		Ghazipur
19	379		Zamania		Ishwari Prasad Kushwaha		M		Ghazipur
3rd Phase - 15 February
20	256		Phulpur		Devanand Bharti		M		Allahabad
21	265		Koraon (SC)		Pancham Lal		M		Allahabad
22	380		Mughalsarai		Ram Dular Bind		M		Chandauli
23	381		Sakaldiha		Shashi Kant Kushwaha		M		Chandauli
24	383		Shivpur		Ramkrit Kol		M		Chandauli
25	386		Chakia (SC)		Sarita Patel		F		Varanasi
26	392		Bhadohi		Ramjit Yadav		M		Bhadohi
27	395		Chhanbey (SC)		Mahadev Kol		M		Mirzapur
28	396		Mirzapur		Mohd. Salim		M		Mirzapur
29	398		Chunar		Ramkrit Biyar		M		Mirzapur
30	399		Marihan		Basant Kol		M		Mirzapur
31	400		Ghorawal		Vijai Kol		M		Sonbhadra
32	403		Duddhi (SC)		Bihari Lal Dharkar		M		Sonbhadra
33	401		Robertsganj		Sheikh Mohd. Kalim		M		Sonbhadra
34	402		Obra		Jang Bahadur Puri		M		Sonbhadra
4th Phase - 19 February
35		174		Lucknow Central		Balmukund Dhuriya		M		Lucknow
5th Phase - 23 February
36		220		Kalpi		Ramesh Singh Sengar		M		Jalaun
37		221		Orai (SC)		Ram Prakash Katheria		M		Jalaun
6th Phase - 28 February
38		61		Noida		Chandra Bhan Singh		M		Gautam Buddha Nagar
7th Phase - 03 March
39		19		Barhapur		Harkishan Singh		M		Bijnor
40		128		Barkhera		Afroz Alam		M		Pilibhit
41		129		Puranpur (SC)		Nagina Ram		M		Pilibhit
42		137		Palia		Arti Rai		F		Lakhimpur Kheri
43		144		Mohammdi		Kranti Kumar Singh		M		Lakhimpur Kheri
Main Slogans For UP Election Bhrashtacharion, Luteron, Sampradayik Takton ko Sabak Sikhao ! Bhakpa (maley) ko Vijayi Banao ! Bhrashtachar, Loot, Daman, Balatkar ka Raj Mitao ! Garibon ki Rajnitik Davedari Barhao ! Bhakpa (maley) ko Jitao !