Why No Census?

THE decadal census, which was due in 2021, has not been held so far. In the union budget 2024-25, no substantial provision has been made for conducting the census. The centre has also not extended the deadline of June 2024 to freeze administrative boundaries which are necessary to conduct the census as per the administrative boundaries like districts, taluk, block or village levels.So the 2021 census, which should have begun in 2020, is indefinitely delayed.

Pro-Corporate Fraudulent Employment Schemes

THE Indian economy is at a critical cross-road, where the GDP growth is in no way boosting the employment generation capacity. Even within the jobs created, 57.3 per cent are self-employed, 18.3 per cent are unpaid household workers and more than 45 per cent are employed in agriculture. The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme launched in March 2020 has utterly failed to generate employment in manufacturing and strikingly India’s year-on-year manufacturing productivity has fallen by 2.38 per cent in 2022-23.

US Won’t Tolerate Strategic Autonomy

PRIME Minister Modi’s two-day visit to Moscow on July 9-10 saw the revival of the annual summit meetings between the leaders of India and Russia. The last summit had been held in 2021 when President Putin visited Delhi. The visit has resulted in further strengthening the strategic partnership between India and Russia.The joint vision statement issued after the talks focuses more on economic cooperation and trade unlike earlier meetings. The decision to increase trade to 100 billion dollars by 2030 was announced.

French Elections – Left Success in Halting the Far Right

PEOPLE of France have voted against the far-right in the parliamentary elections. Contrary to many opinion polls, the National Rally of Le Pen could win only 143 seats and stood third. The newly formed Left coalition, New Popular Front achieved a victory by emerging as the largest bloc with182 seats, while President Macron’s group Ensemble won 163 seats. As a result of this fractured mandate, no single party or Front secured an outright majority. For a majority, one needs to win 289 in the 577-seat National Assembly. The New Popular Front fell short of majority by over 100 seats.

Hold These Criminal Laws in Abeyance

THE BJP has ensured that the three new laws passed by the government at the tail end of the last Lok Sabha in a most cavalier and undemocratic fashion have now been enforced all over the country on July 1. These laws, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam have replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act respectively.It is nothing short of mind-boggling that the entire system of criminal justice has been subjected to major changes without preparation, discussion and deb

Modi Regime: More of the Same

THE formation of a Modi-led NDA coalition government has led to expectations in some circles that this will be a government which will face serious constraints in going ahead with the BJP/RSS’s authoritarian-communal-corporate agenda. Some of these expectations are exaggerated. The fact that the BJP has lost its majority and confined to 240 seats in the Lok Sabha may check or slow down certain aspects of the agenda which Modi and the RSS/BJP were aiming to implement in the third term of Modi’s rule. Constitutional changes, which could further attenuate the democratic system, undermine the

EU Parliament Elections – Ominous Signs

ELECTIONS to the European Parliament held on June 9, saw the emergence of far-right parties as a significant force. Many of these parties are pro-capital, against immigration and also climate skeptics. In a globalised world these results are ominous.The centre-right Conservative group, European People’s Party was barely able to maintain its vote share and seats in these elections. The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (centre-left) saw a marginal drop in their vote share (1 per cent) and seats (minus 4 seats).

Counter the BJP’s Growth in the South

THE overall results of the Lok Sabha election are certainly a setback for the BJP. Getting 240 seats, it failed to achieve the absolute majority it had gained in the 2014 and 2019 elections.

Election Verdict: One Step Forward but Fight to Go On

THE verdict of the 2024 Lok Sabha election is remarkable for the assertion by the people that they value democracy and the constitution. The people have deprived the BJP of an absolute majority, something which it had achieved both in 2014 and 2019. The BJP’s tally has come down from 303 seats to 240 seats – a 21 per cent reduction. NDA has won 292 seats while the INDIA bloc has got 234 seats. The elections were held in the background of the ten years of Modi rule whose hallmark was the institution of an authoritarian regime which promoted the Hindutva-communal agenda.

It is All About the Constitution

AS the last phase of polling is about to be completed, there is no doubt that the Constitution of India and its protection has been one of the main issues in the Lok Sabha election. Right from the beginning, the leaders of the INDIA bloc of parties had pitched the defence of the constitution as a central theme in their election platform.This had a major impact on a large number of people who had experienced the various facets of authoritarian rule in the country in the past one decade.

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Peoples Democracy

Editorial