CPI(ML) Leader Ties INDIA Bloc's 'Vote Theft' Protests to Farmers, Workers

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has said that the ongoing protests by the INDIA bloc against alleged vote theft will be integrated with the concerns of farmers and the working class. He was addressing the media on Saturday. The INDIA bloc has been holding protests against the alleged vote theft.

Mr. Bhattacharya said there would be greater coordination between the struggles on the ground and the INDIA bloc, which was initially launched as an electoral alliance. The INDIA bloc is an alliance of opposition parties formed ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“We, the Left parties, always pay very close attention to the farmers’ issues,” he said. He identified the proposed India-U.S. trade deal as the biggest challenge before Indian farmers. “If it is finalised, it will sound a death knell for Indian agriculture. The farmers will suffer enormously because they cannot compete with the American farmers who are backed by the U.S. state and its economy. We are with the farmers on the issue,” Mr. Bhattacharya said.

On workers, he said they had been fighting against the Labour Codes. “Earlier, whatever basic labour rights were promised, many of them were never really kept. Now with the Labour Codes, there is absolutely no concern for the labour welfare or any security of Indian workers. So we are with the working class,” he said.

The Labour Codes have been a contentious issue, with trade unions opposing them. The government has said the codes aim to simplify labour laws and improve ease of doing business. Mr. Bhattacharya said the Left parties would continue to raise the concerns of workers.

He said all constituents of the INDIA bloc would participate in a protest rally planned at Ram Lila grounds in New Delhi on November 1. Mr. Bhattacharya said the protest would take the ongoing movement against alleged vote theft to a new stage because there was no other way out. “If the government won’t listen and the Election Commission of India will not answer, then a powerful, peaceful, popular movement is the only way out,” he said.

The CPI(ML) leader also criticised the concept of “Special Executive Magistrate” in Delhi, under which a police officer in the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police becomes a magistrate. “There is absolutely no separation of powers. A police officer is getting a report from his own police constable and is issuing orders. I think it is a complete denial of any kind of fair judicial process,” he said.

He also objected to the idea of a peace bond, saying the very cause for a peaceful protest was being considered a breach of peace. The remarks come amid the opposition’s campaign against alleged vote theft. Mr. Bhattacharya said the INDIA bloc would continue its peaceful protests to press for answers.

The CPI(ML) Liberation is a Left party. The protest on November 1 is part of the opposition’s effort to raise these issues. Mr. Bhattacharya said the integration of farmers’ and workers’ concerns with the INDIA bloc’s protests was aimed at building a broader movement. He said the movement would remain peaceful.