India: CPI (Maoist) Upholds Election Boycott

By Kamala Rao

On February 10, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) [CPI (Maoist)] issued a statement calling for the people from the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur, and Goa to boycott the State Assembly elections occurring from February 10 to March 7. The statement came as the CPI (Maoist) continues to face severe repression from the reactionary Indian State’s ongoing Operation “Prahaar.” The statement read:

[Until] now the fundamental, minimum daily problems of the particular social sections of the oppressed classes were left unsolved. None of the parties in power took concrete measures for a proper solution. All the bourgeois, revisionist, neo-revisionist parliamentary political parties of our country including the Congress party that was in power for the most of the time, the parties that later came to power, the present BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party -Ed.] only serve the interests of the imperialists, comprador big capitalists, foreign corporate companies and the feudal classes of the country.”

To combat the three mountains that weigh on the Indian people: imperialism, bureaucrat capitalism, and the big landlords, the CPI (Maoist) fights for a New Democratic Revolution which will expel imperialism, seize the capital of the big bourgeoisie, and institute agrarian reform in the countryside.

Since independence from Great Britain 75 years ago, the bourgeois parties of India have all failed to meet the needs of the people. The CPI (Maoist) remarked that conditions have only gotten worse:

There are no measures to enhance the living standard of the workers, farmers and other oppressed classes. Moreover, the purchasing power of the people declined and they are dying and committing suicides due to soaring prices and hunger.”

Despite these attacks, the Indian people have remained resilient in struggling against the reactionary Indian State. Last year, peasants carried out a historic struggle that pressured the State to withdraw the three agrarian laws, guarantee a minimum support price for peasant goods, and drop the charges against activists. The agrarian laws claim to protect peasants, but in reality, they serve the interests of foreign imperialists and Indian comprador capitalists by eliminating the ability for peasants to get fair prices for their products. The failure of the Indian State to meet those promises won in people’s struggle is what led to the widespread “Day of Betrayal” protests on January 31.

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