May 2009

In the following interview Varadaraja Perumal, the former Chief Minister of the north and east in Sri Lanka, speaks to Mainstream editor on the changed scenario in the island state following the killing of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the LTTE supremo, on May 18, 2009. Perumal was the CM of the north and east in 1988-90; he is one of the leaders of the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) that had to bear the brunt of Prabhakaran’s ire, and at present resides in India.
Are you (…)

Even by the standards of the violent life he led, Velupillai Prabhakaran’s dramatic death was macabre and bloody. Pursued relentlessly by soldiers mandated to crush him and his Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Prabhakaran had taken his last stand with his most senior and trusted colleagues close to a lagoon in Sri Lanka’s Mullaitivu district, his home for years. All escape routes had been cut off although rumours, which it is possible the Tigers may have floated to blind the enemy, (…)

The verdict of the West Bengal people in the Lok Sabha elections is loud and clear: it is a decisive rejection of the CPI-M and the Left Front led by it. The Trinamul Congress—SUCI-Congress alliance or jote won 26 of the 42 seats-Trinamul 19, SUCI 1 and Congress 6. The Left Front’s tally came down from 36 to a mere 15—CPI-M 9, CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc 2 each. For the first time the CPI-M’s score was reduced to a single-digit. The Darjeeling seat went to the BJP.
That the CPI-M was (…)

COMMUNICATION
The election in West Bengal was not as fair and peaceful as is claimed by the authorities. A cloud of fear loomed large over many places especially in the rural areas. But the redeeming feature this time was that people in many areas put up resistance. Nonetheless the hired goons of the CPI-M were able to do some mischief. The Chief Election Officer of West Bengal proved to be a failure. He could not assert his power appropriately nor could be dispel the doubt in the minds of (…)

On May 18, 2009, the ruling CPI-M-led government in Kerala completed three years in office. There would have been rejoicing even if they did not take stock of their successes and failures. But now a reason has come for them to do not only that, but serious introspection and stock-taking too. The reason: their pathetic failure in the recent Lok Sabha elections. One would say that they would do it without anybody’s prompting. There is a difference, which I shall explain. Three years back the (…)

COMMUNICATION
I am extremely grieved to learn that Vimla Dang, wife of Satyapal Dang, a living legend in the communist movement, passed away on May 10, after a prolonged illness. This wonderful Communist couple complemented each other in their task to achieve the ideological objective of the communist movement. I am an avid reader of Satyapal Dang’s writings in the Mainstream. His objective analysis of socio-economic and political issues in his writings are enjoyed by all perceptive (…)

There are many ways of making analysis of the winner in the 15th Lok Sabha election of 2009. Believe it or not, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), a flagship scheme, and farm loan waiver of the United Progressive Alliance Government helped it in the 2009 general election, like the garibi hatao (remove poverty) slogan of Indira Gandhi did to the Congress to regain power with a magnificent win in 1971. The only difference between the NREGA and garibi hatao is that the latter (…)

COMMUNICATION
I received some hate mail when I wrote the article “Varun Gandhi: Albatross Round BJP’s Neck” on March 30 (it appeared in Mainstream, April 11, 2009), but events have now unfolded as foretold, and Elections 2009 could well be designated as the Chronicle of a Death Foretold.
The BJP has slipped in UP, far from making a comeback, and everyone who thought that the cheap ‘udhaar ka sindoor’ trick would yield easy dividends should quit the arena of politics and political (…)

The chances of a new Congress Government being formed have increased with the party emerging as the largest and even crossing the magic number of 272 with its allies. The most important challenge before the new government will be to deal with the continuing global recession. The present thinking is that the Indian economy will look up along with the Western economies. Thus Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, declared his intention to walk side by side with the Western countries at the G-20 meet (…)

The diminished importance of regional parties and the rise of the national parties in these elections is also a sign that smaller parties such as the BSP need to develop more aggressive electoral strategies.
Dalits are usually taken to be a homogeneous category that includes all the Scheduled Castes, but the ground reality in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and other States in north India is that there is plenty of space for fragmentation because of the different (…)