Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• The Differing Stance of Two Left Formations on 2021 West Bengal Assembly Elections

  19 March 2021

  [marron][In the interest of public debate we publish the two differing positions among formations of the left on the 2021 Assembly elections in Bengal]marron]
  o o
  I Full-Text of Commentary in People’s Democracy - March 14, 2021
  CPI(ML): Wrong Turn in West Bengal: A Political Commentary
  THE general secretary of the CPI(ML), Dipankar Bhattacharya, has been airing his views in the media for some time, about the tactics that the Left should adopt for the West Bengal assembly election. (…)

• Red, Green and Saffron — The Changing Colours in the Political Landscape of West Bengal | Priyanca Mathur

  19 March 2021

  by Priyanca Mathur *
  With all 291 candidates for the 2021 West Bengal State Legislative Elections announced, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) party, headed by its firebrand incumbent Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee aka ‘Didi’, is seeking to retain the 294 seat Assembly for the third term. In doing so it faces a fierce challenge put up the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP). West Bengal, which was run by the Congress Party and the Left Front for decades witnessed its watershed moment in 2011 (…)

• 2021 West Bengal Assembly Elections: BJP losing ground points to decline of the popularity and charisma of Modi and Amit Shah | Arun Srivastava

  19 March 2021, by Arun Srivastava

  by Arun Srivastava
  Just fifteen days ahead of the beginning of the 8-phase assembly elections in Bengal, the high speed juggernaut of Amit Shah which he had pushed in action a year ago with great gusto appears to be losing steam. His entire efforts to invigorate it have proved futile. Shah’s BJP which till a week back was ordained to make Mamata Banerjee bite dust has suddenly appears to be losing relevance and turning a pariah.
  Media commentators and political analysts are busy burning (…)

• 2021 West Bengal Elections: Fiftynine questions to Modi-raj by Anindya Ray

  19 March 2021

  Ira Ghosh, senior professor of English at a College in West Bengal appeals to every voter to ponder whether to cast vote to the Bharatiya Janata Party only after getting affirmative response on 59 queries. She posted the questions in her wall in face book? 1. What has happened to unearthing black money? 2. What is the net result of demonetization? 3. Did Rs 15 lakh get deposited to your account, as per the promise of Narendra Modi diring his electoral campaign for the Lok Sabha elections (…)

• A Critique of the Left Politics in West Bengal | Arup Kumar Sen

  19 March 2021, by Arup Kumar Sen

  West Bengal has a rich tradition of Left politics. However, we are witnessing a crisis of Left politics in the State in recent times. The crisis is organically connected with the politics of social democracy practised by the Left. The parameters of such politics were manifested during more- than- three-decade-long rule of the CPI (M)-dominated Left Front (LF) government in West Bengal.
  The Left Front came to power in West Bengal in 1977 with lot of promises. In fact, the land reform (…)

• Kisan Mandi: Myths and realities | Atanu Sengupta & Asish Kumar Pal

  19 March 2021

  by Atanu Sengupta and Asish Kumar Pal
  Abstract:
  This study is undertaken to provide the effect of the selling activities at ‘Kisan Mandi’ for standard of living status of rural agricultural households across different social classes and landholding size classes for the state of West Bengal in 2020.The study also identifies the major issues that are confronted by the rural farming households in their endeavour to increase income from farming and allied activities. Based on the survey (…)

• Education, Religion and Poverty: Politics of Religious Extremism | Nagender Madavaram

  19 March 2021

  by Dr. Nagender Madavaram *
  The world has been passing through a critical phase. Conservative governments around the world are targeting constitutional institutions, human rights, and the basic foundations of democracy. The governments are enriching few cronies at the cost of majority people, rewriting history, and harassing minorities. China replaced Marxism with Han Chauvinism after the Tiananmen Square massacre to achieve its dream of establishing the Middle Kingdom to dominate the (…)

• Pinarayi is About to Break a Record | TJS George

  19 March 2021, by T J S George

  IMPRESSIONS
  Kerala is famous for electing Left United Front and Congress United Front by rotation. That tradition is going to be broken. I join those who predict that Pinarayi Vijayan will win the coming election and stay on in office, making him the first Kerala chief minister to enjoy a continuum of power.
  And that will be good for the state. No chief minister has blossomed the way Pinarayi has. He is hardly the communist party boss he started out as. He is now a leader of all (…)

• Refuge and Tranquility . . . Asking For Too Much | Humra Quraishi

  19 March 2021, by Humra Quraishi

  MUSINGS
  17 March 2021
  Last week, seeing some very painful- disturbing shots of the Rohingya refugees and their families getting not just uprooted but thrown about in detention centres in and around the Jammu region, got me into that introspective mood.
  I have been thinking of how in those bygone centuries, the Jammu and Kashmir region had not just welcomed refugees but also provided them solace to such an extent that not one of them ever went back to their home (…)

• How I Defeated Depression | Ranbir Singh

  19 March 2021

  by Ranbir Singh*
  Family problems created by my drawbacks and alcohol withdrawal syndrome had pushed me into depression in 1993. It got aggravated due to professional problems that I had to face at that point of time. So much so that it had become rather difficult to perform my duties as a teacher and as the Chairman of my Department in Kurukshetra University. However, I was able to get rid of its clutches within a span of three months by sharing my problems with a few persons in whom I had (…)