The lead editorial in the latest issue of CPM mouthpiece Peoples Democracy talks about the BJPs election manifesto claiming that the document is a rehashed expression of its hardcore communal agenda reconfirming that the main Opposition party is indeed the political arm of the RSS.
It says the inclusion of issues like Ram mandir,Ram Setu,cow protection,abolition of Article 370 and imposition of a uniform civil code is an indication of BJPs assessment that without sharpening communal polarisation and consolidating its so-called Hindu vote bank,there is no possibility of it getting a shot at power.
All the remaining chapters sandwiched in between are a mere formal reiteration of many long standing demands that may well find mention in the manifestos of many other political parties. Many of such promises are issues that the BJP-led NDA could well have mimplemented when they were in government for six years, it says.
Though some of their leaders pay lip service to the fact that terror knows no religion,caste or region,the BJP manifestos entire section on terrorism smacks of their communal approach of equating terror with a single community¿..The manifesto is completely bereft of any path-breaking approaches to protect the Indian people from the disastrous impact of the global recession, it says.
At the same time,one need not be surprised that in its efforts to control the reins of state power through the government at the centre,the BJP may well issue a programme on behalf of the NDA where this hardcore communal agenda would not find place. Thus,it shall,once again hunt with the hounds and run with the hares, it says.
Interpreting the NCP
At a time when a guessing game is on about the post-poll strategy of the NCP,the issue carries two news items on NCP leaders including Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar addressing rallies and press conferences along with Left and BJD leaders in Orissa.
It carries Pawars views on NCPs tie-up with the BJD which he aired at a press conference in Bhubaneswar along with Politburo member Sitaram Yechury and the NCP chiefs last-minute cancellation of a plan to attend a joint Left-NCP-BJD rally because of a technical snag in his flight.
The NCP happens to be part of the UPA,but it is coming together with the BJD-led alliance in the context of Orissa, it says quoting Pawar.
Topple the dollar
An article titled The requirements of a new reserve currency regime by Prabhat Patnaik talks about the demands for a new reserve currency to replace the US dollar.
The arguments in favour of the demand for a new reserve currency are quite powerful because if one nations currency plays the role of a reserve currency in the world economy,then this fact confers enormous advantages upon that nation which is not fair,he says. It can in effect print money which other countries are more or less obliged to hold. What is more,the obligation to hold this currency is not a result of external pressures alone; it arises from each nations concern with its own self-interest,he says.
Compiled by Manoj C.G
