MAJORITY RULE
The CPM believes the results of the Lok Sabha and the recent assembly elections have underlined the urgent need for initiating radical electoral reforms to replace the present first past the post system. It says the outcome has shown that a party with about 30 per cent of the voteshare — the BJP — could form a government. The BJP, the editorial in People’s Democracy says, seems to be by now perfecting the art of securing for itself a majority under multi-polar electoral contests, while receiving a third or less percentage of support: “Such are the anomalies of the ‘first-past-the post’ system… The urgency to enforce radical changes in our electoral system, including, moving towards a proportional representation through may be, initially, a ‘partial proportional representation’ system that is practised in several Western democracies today… The results of these state assemblies have, once again, underlined the urgency to initiate such reforms in order to strengthen our system of parliamentary democracy and make it truly democratic — rule of the majority. Instead, we now have continuously at the Centre and in a majority of states, a situation when parties/ coalitions control the government polling less votes in their favour than the votes polled against them. Such a distortion of democracy needs urgent correction…”
It argues that the BJP’s claim that the “Modi wave” has turned into a “Modi tsunami” sounds hollow. The truth, it argues, was that the RSS is “expanding its base” precisely by sharpening communal polarisation in the country.
The CPI(ML)’s ML Update slams the BJP government over the repatriation of black money, which was one of its key campaign themes. It notes that BJP leaders had promised to repatriate black money held in foreign banks within 100 days after coming to power. Although the first step Modi took after being sworn in was to set up an SIT to track the black money to showcase his government’s commitment, how far the SIT has progressed is not known: “What is known is that the BJP in power has now started singing an altogether different tune… It now says the government is handicapped by treaties with various countries in the matter of disclosure of names…”
Even among the three names it revealed, one of the firms had made donations to the BJP as well as the Congress, exposing the nexus between black money and the BJP and Congress, it claims. It says the real issue is huge amounts being “round-tripped” to India in the form of FDI.
MARKET CRUSADERS
The CPI’s New Age argues that the Narendra Modi government is in a “haste” to implement “pro-corporate” measures after the good electoral show in Maharashtra and Haryana and says its actions and pronouncements portend a greater danger to the country’s economy and politics. It talks about the decision to appoint Arvind Subramanian as chief economic advisor and Rajiv Mehrishi as finance secretary, the unveiling of labour reforms and decontrolling of diesel prices as well as auctioning of coalfields to back its claims.
“Subramanian was with Washington-based Institute for International Economics and has been a protagonist of so-called market reforms. He has been pleading for drastic measures by the government to speed up the creation of conditions for rapid investment including free flow of FDI in all sectors… Similarly Mehrishi is also known as a pro-market crusader,” says the editorial.
Under the garb of labour reforms, it says the prime minister is out to abolish all mechanisms that ensure compliance with labour laws: “Actually, Narendra Modi had been opposed to any restrictions on employers in the form of inspection and supervision of compliance of labour laws.”
Compiled by Manoj C.G.
