LEARNING FROM AAP
CPI veteran A.B. Bardhan believes the Left should learn how to forge links with the masses from the Aam Aadmi Party. In an article in the journal New Age, the former CPI general secretary discusses young people’s renewed interest in politics. “Gone are the days of stagnation when young people were more concerned with their own individual future, when careerism dominated their thinking. They have come to realise that their own future is inextricably linked with the future and the destiny of the country. A big section looks forward to socialism, even if the outlines are not sufficiently clear to all of them,” he writes.
GOOD AUDIT
The CPM weekly, People’s Democracy, welcomes the Delhi High Court judgment bringing private telecom companies under the ambit of a CAG audit. It believes the order is seminal and argues that the power of the CAG to audit private firms using public resources should not be seen as interference in the functioning of a private firm or violating Article 149 of the Constitution. An editorial argues that private telecom companies pay between 1 to 8 per cent as spectrum usage charges apart from an annual license fee. “Besides ensuring that the government receives its legitimate earnings from the private telecom companies, the audit will enable the government and the people to see that the telecom operators are not under-reporting revenues, part of which accrue to the public exchequer,” it asserts.
The editorial also backs the Delhi government’s move asking for an audit of the three private power distribution companies. “Since 49 per cent of these companies is owned by the Delhi government… it is only appropriate that these accounts be audited by the CAG. Yet, there is a strong opposition… This only amounts to suggesting that the existing overwhelming prevalence of ‘crony capitalism’ that permits profit maximisation through means other than legitimate must remain unregulated and unchecked,” it states.
PRESSURE FROM BELOW
After the collapse of the AAP government’s janta durbar and the criticisms directed at the party because of its failure, the CPI(ML) claims there is pressure from rightwing and establishment forces on the Delhi government. “It is for the workers, women and common people of Delhi to exert pressure in the other direction and ensure that the government remains true to its promises,” an editorial in the weekly ML Update says.
“The BJP and the Congress were quick to brand the whole exercise as ‘anarchy’, and the AAP’s former fellow travellers like Kiran Bedi (now backing the BJP), sermonised them on how one should not seek to govern from rooftops. The media too largely delivered a verdict that the thronging people had ‘spoiled’ the government’s debut… [but] to brand the outpouring of people at the janta durbar as ‘anarchy’ that can have no place in governance is to dishonour the aspirations of the people of Delhi.
People on the streets seeking accountability from elected representatives are a must to keep governments on their toes. The victory of the AAP in such a short time reflected the fact that the dam of people’s patience with undemocratic and anti-people governments had burst. Instead of counselling patience to the people now, their insistent pressure on the government must be welcomed and strengthened,” it opines.
Compiled by Manoj C.G.
