Poor have become destitute while wealth concentrated at the top, says CPI manifesto, calling for BJP to be voted out of power

The party’s poll manifesto calls for more taxes on the rich; seeks to hike minimum wages, scrap Agnipath, restore OPS, abolish CAA, conduct caste census, bring CBI and ED under Parliament’s purview

(From Left) CPI leaders Dr. B.K. Kango, D. Raja, Ashish Pasha and Prof. Dinesh Varshny releasing the party’s Election manifesto for coming Lok Sabha Election at party office in New Delhi on Saturday. | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

The Communist Party of India (CPI) on April 6 released its manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, calling for a change of government at the Centre. “Unemployment and price rise have become the biggest woes for the people. BJP’s rule has resulted in unprecedented concentration of wealth at the top while the poor are pushed to destitution,” said party general secretary D. Raja.

The party said that it would seek increased funding to create a health and education infrastructure which is accessible to all; and expand the country’s resource base with taxation measures such as a “Wealth Tax, Inheritance Tax, and increased Corporate Tax to keep the nature of the economy more equal, just, and egalitarian”.

Fighting for equality

The party said it would “fight to promote public sector with equality of opportunity along with ensuring reservations in the private sector... will implement Women’s Reservation in letter and spirit by immediately removing the clause relating to delimitation and census to give reservations to women in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies”.

The CPI said it would continue its struggle for a minimum wage of ₹700 under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and doubling the available work days under the scheme to 200 in a calendar year. It promised to intensify its fight for an Urban Employment Guarantee Act and social security for gigworkers.

“CPI will raise the demand of scrapping the contractual and derogatory Agnipath Scheme with its demeaning service conditions betraying the youth of our country,” it said.

The party will work towards complete restoration of the Old Pension Scheme; abolition of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act; and will continue to fight politically and legally to remove the arbitrary cap of 50% on reservations.

It said that a caste census must be undertaken to formulate appropriate policies for the welfare of the socially and educationally backward sections of society.

Electoral reforms

It aims to bring Central investigative agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation under the purview of the Parliament to ensure the impartiality of their probes.

“The CPI will continue its struggle for full statehood to Puducherry and NCT [National Capital Territory] of Delhi to put an end to Union’s interference disrespecting the mandate given by the people of Puducherry and Delhi... CPI will also strive to remove executive interference in the appointments of CEC [Chief Election Commissioner] and ECs [Election Commissioners] to ensure the independence of the Election Commission of India,” it said.

The party said it would mobilise public opinion for comprehensive electoral reforms, including State funding of elections, as recommended by the Indrajit Gupta Committee and for proportional representation system.

For students, farmers, workers

“The BJP is attempting to communalise education by bringing irrational and fundamentalist changes to curriculum and text-books. CPI will scrap all irrational and communal changes brought by the BJP in NCERT and other text-books,” said the party.

“CPI will implement the recommendations made by the National Commission on Farmers headed by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan... [for] statutory assurance of remunerative prices for all farm produce through expanded and decentralised procurement, one-time comprehensive loan-waiver, along with a National Debt Relief Commission, and timely and effective relief from disaster related distress...”

The party said it would abolish the four “anti-labour” codes, fix national minimum wages as per the 15th Indian Labour Conference’s recommendation, assure a minimum pension of ₹9,000 per month and indexed pensions to all citizens aged above 60 years, and abolish the contract labour system.

It listed a series of other measures on issues pertaining to women and children, the economy, foreign policy, youth and unemployment, Scheduled Castes and Tribes and other backward castes, food security and the public distribution system, education, healthcare, environment and forests, electoral, judicial, police, and media reforms, urbanisation, reforms in tax structures, NRIs, culture, federalism, autonomy of institutions, science and technology, Jammu and Kashmir and northeastern India.