RWPI Lok Sabha Election Manifesto, 2024
Revolutionary Workers’ Party of India – RWPI
Lok Sabha Election Manifesto, 2024
Build an Independent Political Position of the Working Masses in the Upcoming Lok Sabha Elections!
Vote for the Revolutionary Workers’ Party of India’s (RWPI) Candidates!
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Comrades,
The general elections for the 18th Lok Sabha is at our doorsteps. These elections are taking place when the country is going through an unprecedented crisis. There are two aspects to this unprecedented crisis. The first is the horrendous attacks on the democratic rights of the people of the country by the fascist Modi government. The second is that, as a result of the pro-rich policies of the Modi government, unemployment, inflation, corruption, and communalism are wreaking havoc on the people, the likes of which are unmatched in the history of our country. Our country is currently being ruled by a fascist regime. One can hardly object to this fact. Of course, unlike Hitler or Mussolini, the Modi government has not openly dissolved elections, parliament, and assemblies. So to speak, some civil rights still exist, though only in a limited sense and only on paper. However, the fascist Modi government has destroyed all the institutions and processes of bourgeois democracy from within. The Sangh Parivar and BJP have seized control of, i.e., taken over the entire State machinery from within. The Sangh Parivar and the BJP have more or less taken control over the entire structure of Enforcement Directorate (E.D.), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Income Tax Department, Election Commission, Judiciary, etc. In the span of many decades, the Sangh Parivar has infiltrated the police, army, and paramilitary forces through a continuous and long process and has placed its own personnel there.
Elections through EVMs is a massive scam in itself, which ridicules the right of the people to express their collective will, i.e., to independently and transparently elect their representatives. It is surprising that, for a long time, the judiciary of this country has not heard the petitions on this specific issue, i.e., petitions raising valid questions on EVMs and demanding 100 percent VVPAT cross-verification with paper slips. The hearing process on the petition demanding 100 percent VVPAT cross-verification has started for the namesake; however, the possibility of any judgment over it before the elections is very low. This is what was expected when it took so long for this process to start. So to speak, regular notices were sent to the Election Commission by the Supreme Court demanding answers. The Election Commission says that the EVMs are safe, and the Supreme Court believes it every time! This, despite there being considerable evidence of the EVM scam!
What does all this demonstrate? This demonstrates that today in our country only the shell of that democracy is left, which the social scientists term ‘bourgeois democracy’ and the common people call ‘democracy’. ‘Bourgeois democracy’ is such a democracy where the richest classes of society, i.e., capitalists, wealthy contractors, wealthy merchants, kulaks, and capitalist farmers, and the upper middle classes, enjoy democratic rights; but as we go down the social ladder, this democracy gets more and more limited, formal, and meaningless. That means as we get to the common middle class, lower middle class, semi-proletariat, poor and lower-middle peasants, and to the huge working class working in the farms, mines, and factories, and informal workers in the cities and villages, these democratic rights get more limited and formal. For a common working person, there is no significant meaning of law, justice, and equality. For them, the local police inspector or constable carries the constitution, law, and penal code of the country in his pocket. But even the limited democratic rights that the masses had in this bourgeois democracy have lost their meaning all together today. What meaning does the fundamental democratic right to elect or get elected even hold if the fascist BJP manipulates the elections through the EVM scam?
The alternative of a revolutionary party of the working people on a country level is still absent in front of the masses. However, today the ‘alternative’ of other bourgeois parties that serve the owners, contractors, brokers, and merchants, too, has been reduced to mere formality by the BJP. That is to say, the BJP and the Sangh Parivar are trying to practically eliminate the electoral alternative of all other bourgeois electoral parties. It is impossible for the election to be a level playing field when the Modi-Shah government of the BJP itself appoints two election commissioners of the Election Commission right before the elections, breaks all the opposition parties through ED-CBI-IT department raids, jails their leaders, and seals the bank accounts of the main opposition party. In such a situation, what remains of the people’s right to vote?
It is true that even if the people elect Congress, SP, BSP, AAP, DMK, AIADMK, JD(U), JD(S), TMC, RJD, Shiv Sena, NCP, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) Liberation, etc., these parties can never represent the masses in the true sense because all of them run on donations and grants from some or the other section of the capitalist class and hence represent the interests of the capitalist class. However, earlier the masses had the right and opportunity to punish the ruling party for its anti-people policies. It is another thing that this right does not offer any permanent and concrete solution to the real issues or demands of the people. It could vote the ruling party out of power for its ill deeds over the past five years and choose any other party or coalition. However, even this right is being snatched away in various ways by the Modi-Shah regime at present. Consequently, only the shell of bourgeois democracy remains. In reality, we are living in a fascist era. This is a qualitative change that has to be understood in order for the working masses of the country to struggle to safeguard their own interests. With the Modi government coming to power in 2014, the ascent of the fascist forces to power continuing in waves reached a qualitatively new stage. The way in which the Modi-Shah regime has systematically destroyed all the institutions and processes of bourgeois democracy in the last 10 years is a living example of this fact.
In such a situation, it should also be clear that the various bourgeois opposition parties cannot effectively fight against the fascist rule of the BJP. On the one hand, they lack the strength of massive economic support from the capitalist class right now, and on the other, they also do not have a RSS-like organizational cadre structure and ideological basis, which the BJP and RSS have. On top of that, by capturing and using central agencies, the BJP has attacked the economic and political backbone of all the bourgeois opposition parties. Other than that, these bourgeois parties possess no strength to extensively go and campaign among the masses. In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections even if, because of the massive unpopularity of the Modi government and in spite of the manipulation of the EVMs, the coalition of opposition parties ‘INDIA’ wins, the BJP and the Sangh Parivar will still continue to have their hold on the society and politics of the country and by taking advantage of the economic and social insecurities of the broad cross-section of the lower middle class and petty bourgeois population arising out of the economic crisis as well as by conjuring up the fear of a false enemy, for example, of Muslims, it will again reach a point where it can form a government, but this time more aggressively. Has this not been happening for the past 26 years? That is why parties like Congress, SP, AAP, TMC, Shiv Sena, NCP, DMK, RJD, CPI, CPI (M), etc. can never decisively defeat the BJP and the Sangh Parivar. This task can be only be accomplished by the masses, given that they build their own revolutionary party on a country-wide level, which will run not on the donations and contributions from the capitalist class but on the support of the broad cross-section of the working masses and they erect a militant mass movement on the issues of unemployment, inflation, corruption, and communalism which can shake the existing power to its foundations. Only through these two steps can the fascist project of the BJP and Sangh Parivar be finally defeated.
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‘Revolutionary Workers’ Party of India’ (RWPI) is such a party. This party is of all the common working masses who do not exploit the labour of someone else and earn their bread and butter through their own hard work, who work in factories, farms, mines, government and private offices, and as informal workers in cities and villages. This work can be primarily manual in nature or primarily mental in nature. It is on the basis of these two types of labour of the workers that the capitalist class of society, i.e., owners, contractors, jobbers, brokers, kulaks, rich farmers, etc., earns its profits. The profit can be small, medium or big for some. No matter if the owner is small, big, or medium, if he appropriates the fruits of the labour of someone else, he is a capitalist; he is an exploiter.
In these Lok Sabha Elections, ‘Revolutionary Workers’ Party of India’ (RWPI henceforth) is contesting from six Lok Sabha constituencies: Delhi North-East, Delhi North-West, Mumbai North-East, Pune, Ambedkar Nagar, and Kurukshetra. We appeal to the entire common working people of all these constituencies to vote for an independent party of the working class and common working masses of the country, i.e., RWPI, and elect a peoples’ representative who truly can represent your interests and who is also answerable to you. Only RWPI’s candidate can struggle for your interests in the parliament upon winning and struggle to gain as many rights as are possible within the limits of the current system. Certainly, this struggle is only meaningful if it is a part of the larger struggle of the working class and working masses for the revolutionary transformation of society and the system through a revolution, helps in its advancement, and exposes the limits of the current system instead of creating misconceptions and illusions about it. RWPI is the only party that can build an independent political position of the common masses in the electoral arena of the present capitalist system, represent their political, economic, and social interests, and save the common working masses from the tragedy of tail-ending this or that bourgeois party. Because this is the only party that is entirely dependent on the working classes for its entire resources, policymaking, and activities, and precisely for this reason, it can serve the interests of the working masses.
In all the other Lok Sabha constituencies, we want to tell the people that the fascist government of Modi-Shah is the biggest enemy of the working masses today. Definitely, electoral parties like the Congress, SP, RJD, DMK, Shiv Sena (Udhhav), TMC, AAP, CPI, CPM, etc. represent this or that section of the capitalist class. But it is important to differentiate between a fascist party of the owner class and other bourgeois parties of the owner class. A fascist party either formally dissolves bourgeois democracy (just like Hitler’s Nazi party did in Germany or Mussolini’s fascist party did in Italy) or, in the period of capitalism ridden with long depression, corrodes it from within and what remains is only its shell. Other bourgeois parties, including Congress, do not possess the democratic character of the early half of the twentieth century or the latter half of the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, there is definitely a crucial difference between a fascist party like the BJP and other parties of the owner and propertied classes, which every citizen has felt in the last ten years. So even if the masses want some immediate relief, if they need some time to organize themselves politically as an independent party of the working people, they will have to ensure in other Lok Sabha constituencies that the most autocratic, fascist, fraudulent, corrupt, sectarian, and communal force that divides people on religious lines, i.e., the BJP, must be defeated in the elections. This will be foremost the victory of the masses. Obviously, mere electoral defeat will not be the decisive defeat of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar. Only those who cannot differentiate between the government and the state power consider the electoral defeat of the BJP to be the decisive defeat of fascism.
The state is not a temporary body that changes every five years; its bureaucracy, its police, army, paramilitary, and judiciary are permanent bodies that serve the capitalist class. If the fascist forces take over and capture that body from within, then it is possible that, owing to the contradictions arising from maintaining the shell of bourgeois democracy, in exceptional situations, some judgments of the judiciary may go against the fascist government. It is even possible for the fascist party to lose elections and go out of government due to massive unpopularity. But even in that case, it will bounce back to power more aggressively the moment capitalism faces a long recession, because the government of other bourgeois parties cannot save the capitalist system from its crisis. In such a situation, the decisive defeat of fascism today is only possible with a New Socialist Revolution. This New Socialist Revolution is our long-term goal. However, a countrywide vanguard party of the proletariat that is capable of accomplishing this revolution, i.e., one that is capable of playing the role of a revolutionary core of the working class and common working masses is still absent. Presently, the forces of the people are scattered. The masses are fed up with unemployment, inflation, corruption, and communalism but are not organized against these issues. In such a situation, the defeat of the fascist government in the election will provide temporary relief, though limited, to the forces of the people. It will provide them with a limited opportunity to mobilize and organize.
That is why we appeal to the masses to vote for RWPI in the above-mentioned six Lok Sabha constituencies. It is your own party, which is working in 12 states, has led and guided various mass movements on the ground, and through it, led many movements to victory; it adheres to the principle of ‘serve the masses’ and mobilizes its resources only from the masses. You can trust only such a party.
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Secondly, while voting in all other constituencies, keep in mind that the BJP and Sangh Parivar are the biggest and most dangerous enemies of the common working masses, that is, workers, poor peasants, the lower and common middle class, women, Dalits, Adivasis, and Muslims. Five more years of Modi rule will bring unprecedented destruction to the lives of the people, run a bulldozer of fascist dictatorship over whatever is left of the ruins of the democratic rights of the people, and attack the ability of the masses to resist in every possible way. Anyway, the electoral bond mega scam has made it clear to every one of us that the Modi government completely works in the interest of the capitalist class, does all kinds of scams and frauds for it, and uses the veil of Ram’s name and the flag of religion to hide all these misdeeds. The rich of this country are not fools to donate millions and billions to the BJP in the form of electoral funds; mind you, they are definitely not doing it for social service either! Now we even have evidence that in return to these many billions of rupees the BJP is giving huge government contracts to these capitalist beasts, squandering tax waivers of many billions of rupees on them, offering them unbridled freedom to do all kinds of scams, and closing all the scam related cases and lawsuits against these capitalists and companies. All of this is in front of everyone. Even after this, if someone chooses to be a fool in the name of religion and caste or is swayed by the frenzy of jingoism and ultra-nationalism or gets fooled by the BJP’s façade and gimmick of “virtousness, morality, nationalism, upholding the religious flag, and chal-chehra-charitra,” they are in need of psychiatric treatment. It is clear that today the defeat of the Modi-Shah government is necessary for the common working masses of the country on an immediate basis. This will not be a decisive defeat of the fascist forces but it will definitely give a chance, no matter how much limited, to the scattered forces of the masses to mobilize and organize themselves.
It is obvious that the majority of the common working population knows and understands this reality and is taking some decisions in their minds. The people who brought in demonetization, hiked inflation by imposing GST and an unjust tax on petroleum products, misguided you in the name of religion, looted you through the electoral bond scam of thousands of crores, and tried taking away your democratic rights with the EVM scam—it’s time you vote them out, it’s time you undertake their votebandi.
Current Political Situation and Our Tasks
The current political situation in our country is that a fascist party has taken over various bodies and institutions of the state from within in a long process that has been going on for decades. Be it the bureaucracy, the police, and the army, or the judiciary and the election commission, central institutions like the Enforcement Directorate, the Income Tax Department or the CBI, the Sangh Parivar and the BJP have infiltrated and placed their people in these institutions on a large scale. In a similar way, there is an ongoing process of systematic communalization of the entire education system. With respect to the media, the more we speak, the less it is. Today, corporate media has been very aptly named ‘Godi Media’. You can expect the pimp of a brothel to be more moral than the anchors and journalists in the media.
The BJP, which has been collecting donations in thousands of crores through the electoral trust scam, is now getting thousands of crores of election funds from big companies and capitalists through an even bigger mega scam of electoral bonds. In return, to ensure them profits of worth lakhs of crores, it is giving these capitalists a free pass to exploit labour and nature, i.e., our labour power and natural resources at a large scale, giving tax waivers worth thousands of crores, waiving off their loans worth thousands of crores, selling off at pennies public sector projects built from the resources of the people, and saving many corrupt capitalists from various lawsuits. The matter is clearly about give and take in a corrupt manner: donate funds in thousands of crores and receive profit in lakhs of crores! There is now irrefutable evidence before the people of the country.
In the mega scam of electoral bonds, even companies with a profit of 2 crore have donated more than hundreds of crores! How is this possible? Actually, these are shell companies of the likes of Adanis and Ambanis, through which these capitalists are whitewashing their black money. Earlier, through demonetization, the Modi government had given a similar opportunity to these rich looters to convert their black money into white and now through the electoral bond mega scam it has given them an opportunity to do this on a larger scale.
The ED (Enforcement Directorate), at the behest of the Modi government, is very eager to raid the leaders of the opposition to handicap them and their parties, jailing them, especially with the motive of intimidating them to join the BJP; however, even after the details of electoral bonds made public, there has not been any action taken by the ED against the accused of the biggest mega scam till date, that is, the capitalists and moneybags who are involved as well as the leaders of the BJP who took funding worth thousands of crores from them. Even the Supreme Court has remained silent on this. Neither has there been any investigation nor has the Supreme Court taken any cognizance of why companies that were raided, immediately bought electoral bonds and gave them to the BJP. Why were companies, donating thousands of crores of rupees through electoral bonds, handed government contracts only after giving bonds? Why did they get relief from legal cases? Or why were they granted exemptions of thousands of crores from wealth tax, etc.? To safeguard the modesty of the shell of bourgeois democracy and to maintain its illusion, the Supreme Court did make the information related to electoral bonds public, but what does it even mean if there is no action taken on its basis?
Similarly, just before the elections, after the Model Code of Conduct was implemented, opposition leaders were raided and jailed at the behest of the Modi government. The bank accounts of Congress have been sealed, and it has been handed new notices from the Income Tax department every day. But the Election Commission is taking no cognizance of it. The reason is clear: just before the elections, the Modi government, under a new unconstitutional law, haphazardly appointed two new election commissioners. The Supreme Court is also not taking any cognizance of this. The committee that oversaw the appointment consisted of the Prime Minister, a minister of the government, and one leader from the opposition. Clearly, the BJP people constitute the majority in the committee, and as a result, the elected election commissioner will be of their choice and then work in accordance with them. One does not need the wisdom of a sage to understand this.
EVM is not a small issue. A lot of questions were raised on the EVM scam during the two Lok Sabha elections and various assembly elections in the past 10 years. An engineer named Hariprasad had practically shown 10 years ago that the EVM could be manipulated. What happened to him? He was jailed for getting his hands on a real EVM through unauthorized sources! No one talked about the fact that he proved that the EVM could not be trusted. It can be manipulated just like any other electronic machine. After his release from jail, he challenged the Election Commission again and again, saying that he could manipulate the new models of EVMS too. But the Election Commission is not ready to listen to him. Similarly, many such individuals and groups have challenged the election commission, saying that they can manipulate the EVM and change the results. However, the election commission is not ready to meet them, and even the Supreme Court is not intervening to ensure the credibility of the democratic process.
Even many lawyers of the Supreme Court have been challenging the Election Commission, but it is not ready to listen. People loyal to the BJP have been placed on the boards of directors of the EVM manufacturing companies. It is clear that such EVMs cannot be trusted. The BJP itself used to run campaigns questioning the credibility of the EVMs before coming to power and was publishing books about it. Its leader, J. V. L. Narsimha Rao, wrote a book on this, the preface of which was written by BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani. But now none of them questions the EVMs, as the entire EVM system is under BJP control.
Similarly, 19 lakh EVMs have gone missing. How is this possible without the collaboration with the government machinery? Experts on voting process around the world have shown that any ruling government can manipulate EVM voting according to its will. There must be some reason that almost all the countries that had chosen EVM voting have now reverted to voting by ballot paper. In some countries, the highest court gave orders to withdraw EVMs and shift to ballot paper. But in our country, the Election Commission is not even ready to agree to the demand of 100 percent VVPAT cross-verification with EVM machine! Just before the elections, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Election Commission to present its stand on 100 percent VVPAT cross-verification. It is clear that before anything is done regarding this issue, the country will be done with the elections! Our Supreme Court is generally not ready to listen to any petition related to the credibility of the EVMs! In earlier petitions, it had asked the Election Commission to present its argument, and when the Election Commission said that “everything is ok”, then the Supreme Court also only said “ok” and dismissed the petition. Neither was there any inspection by scientists and experts, nor was there any investigation into the missing 19 lakh EVMs. Even the valid demand of 100 percent VVPAT cross-verification was not heard. It should also be noted that CJI Chandrachud had distanced himself from all the hearings of new petitions regarding EVM. Those who are applauding the judgment on the electoral bonds are only able to see a single tree and not the whole jungle.
In a nutshell, the Sangh Parivar has taken the task of capturing all the bodies, institutions, and processes of the Indian bourgeois state from within to a qualitatively new level. In such a case, the Modi government has been working shamelessly and nakedly to make toothless the majority of the bourgeois opposition parties that are fighting against the BJP in the arena of elections. The idea of a ‘level playing field’ i.e., a system of equal opportunities, is being ridiculed every day.
Obviously, the working masses do not make bourgeois democracy their ultimate goal because they know that this democracy in reality exists only for the wealthy and propertied classes and only gives limited democratic rights to the workers, poor peasants, lower and middle-middle class, and essentially is a dictatorship of the rich. This does not mean that the working class and the broad cross-section of the working masses remain mere bystanders or act as cheerleaders when the fascist power violates and suspends even these limited democratic rights given by this bourgeois democracy. It is true that systemic transformation can only be brought about by revolution and not through elections. However, understanding this reality does not mean that the working class and the working masses support the dissolution of elections or the destruction of the entire process of elections. Criticizing the democracy of the rich does not mean to start supporting any kind of fascist dictatorship, military dictatorship, or the establishment of monarchy! Their goal is to march in the progressive direction from bourgeois democracy towards socialism and proletarian democracy. They understand that the struggle for their real rights and the revolutionary struggle to establish a new, just, social and economic system can be fought in a better way on the ground of this democracy.
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Obviously, parties like Congress, AAP, TMC, DMK, RJD, etc. do not represent the interests of the working class and broad cross-section of the working masses. The presence of many bourgeois parties gives only a single right to the masses: to punish the ruling party for its anti-people policies and misdeeds in the next election and elect some other party. This can also force the bourgeois parties to give some rights to the people and engage in some welfarism in a very limited sense. Politically, there is a difference between a dictatorial fascist party and other bourgeois parties, but when it comes to economic policies, there remains only one difference in today’s neo-liberal era: The fascist BJP implements the policies of privatization and liberalization in the most autocratic, barbaric, and naked manner, crushing democratic rights in a fascist way and at a much accelerated pace, while the other parties implement the same policies by mixing them with an ostentatious welfarism, with a façade of democracy, and at a relatively slower pace as their political character has historically been that way.
All the other bourgeois parties, rearing their undemocratic face from time to time, cannot do all that the BJP and Sangh Parivar are capable of doing because fascism is a reactionary movement of the petty-bourgeois classes, which serves the capitalist class, especially the big capitalist class. Distinct from the other parties of the owners and the rich, the Sangh Parivar and BJP have a cadre-based organization, have a reactionary social movement behind its back, and have penetrated deep into the bodies of state power. Hence, they can launch an attack on democratic rights in a qualitatively different way from all other parties, can even suspend them, and that too in such a way that, formally, only a shell of democracy remains. The question of political democracy is not some minor, trivial issue for the people of this country. It is crucial for the people to give a fitting answer to every attack on political democracy. Hence, it is imperative to understand that the most dangerous and biggest enemy of the people of this country is BJP and the entire Sangh Parivar.
As we have mentioned before, today the decisive defeat of fascism can only occur through a new socialist revolution of the working masses. However, BJP having to go out of the government after facing defeat in elections would be a temporary blow for them. This setback would provide some opportunity and respite to the masses to mobilize and organize themselves, and give some chance and respite at organizing a country-wide revolutionary party which can perform the role of the revolutionary core of the entire working masses. This would also give the opportunity to people to organize their struggles for the rights of employment, education, healthcare and housing on an extensive scale.
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It is a ploy of the fascist Sangh Parivar to present Muslims as the enemy. In reality, it needs a false enemy in order to cast a smokescreen and hide the misdeeds of the profit-driven capitalist system and profiteering capitalist class. A profit-driven system that cannot provide the broad common masses with employment, education, healthcare, housing, freedom from inflation and social-economic security will make a scapegoat out of a minority community for the crimes of its profiteering and lust, to rid itself of any guilt in front of common working masses of the majority community. This is why fascist forces present some minority community as the enemy and as responsible for all the problems.
In Germany, Hitler corrupted the political consciousness of the entire German people by making an enemy out of Jews and saved Germany’s uber rich and moneybags. Similarly, the Sangh Parivar does the same in our country by labelling Muslims as the enemy. It makes them the target by spreading lies, falsehoods and rumours against them, by playing on the religious sentiments of people, and by indulging in the propaganda of communal politics. For this, it does the gimmicks of ‘Love Jihad’ and ‘Gauraksha’ etc., which are now exposed in front of the people. BJP leaders themselves, and their children, have had inter-faith marriages, be it Shahnawaz Hussain, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Sikandar Bakht or Subramanian Swamy’s daughter. Have you ever wondered why their houses are not attacked by the Sangh Parivar’s degenerates and lumpen elements? It is clear that this is a conspiracy to divide all of us. Love and marriage is the personal matter of two people, no government or party has any right to interfere in it. Similarly, BJP hails the cow as ‘mother’ in North India, but its leaders promise to increase beef supply in Kerala, Goa and the North East. Now BJP has received contributions of 55 crore from beef companies through electoral bonds! We can now easily understand their gimmicks. Apart from this, it fools the country’s people through jingoistic warmongering against Pakistan or China from time to time. The truth behind their “nationalism” has long been exposed, be it through the coffin scam during Kargil War, or the reality of the Pulwama attacks. Through the Agniveer scheme, the Modi government now wants the youth of the country to be “nation-worshippers” on contract! Even after knowing these truths, if you are misled by the frenzy they spread, then you are shooting yourself in the foot, and every working person will have to keep this in mind.
To stoke the flames of communal politics, BJP has once again raised the issue of CAA-NRC. Do read through this law once. It is communal law that clearly discriminates on the basis of religion, especially against Muslims. Recently, the Modi government announced the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). This announcement has come right before the 2024 elections to polarize the votes on communal basis. To establish and maintain an image as the “Hindu Hriday Samrat” (“The King of Hindu Hearts”), Narendra Modi and BJP have employed many devices, whether it’s the abrogation of article 370, the Ram Mandir inauguration, or the repeated attempts to implement Uniform Civil Code (UCC) (though they have not been able to implement it in the face of heavy opposition). Since 2019 itself, the Modi government has spared no effort in trying to implement CAA-NRC. However, owing to the countrywide mass resistance, it could not do anything in this direction immediately. Now, with elections around the corner, BJP and Narendra Modi are looking to lure the Hindu population with CAA to do some damage control for their growing unpopularity. This law has provisions that Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains, Christians and Buddhists from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, who entered India before 31 December 2014 are eligible for Indian citizenship. Through this law, not only have the Muslims from these three countries been denied citizenship, but also all the people from other neighbouring countries. If the government is claiming to give citizenship on the basis of religious persecution, then why is this law not giving citizenship to the Rohingyas from Myanmar, the Tamils of Sri Lanka, the Uyghurs in China and Tibetans, the Ahmediyas, Balochs and Shias in Pakistan, and the thousands oppressed by Taliban in Afghanistan? It is clear that BJP and Modi government are undertaking the task of spreading a sense of fear among the Muslims in the country and dividing the common working masses among themselves by implementing their communal fascist politics and granting citizenship on communal basis. The working masses have to understand that the Modi government has introduced CAA just to gather the votes of the Hindu population in the upcoming elections, and after elections, its next step will be to prepare the NRC register. This means that a sizeable population would be deprived of citizenship, a large chunk of which will include the working and poor masses of every religion, like it happened in Assam, where without the necessary documents, 19 lakh people were denied citizenship, of which many were from the majority Hindu religion and nearly 70 percent were women. We must understand that CAA-NRC is dangerous and works against not just Muslims, but against the poor and working masses of every religion.
All in all, it is crystal clear that BJP and the Sangh Parivar are the biggest enemy of the country’s working masses, whether they are Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Dalit, Adivasi or of any other community. It is the party that most faithfully serves the rich, by barbarically crushing the rights of the people. It is also the most fraudulent and corrupt party that keeps its pot of communal fascist politics boiling on the basis of lies, rumours and misinformation.
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As far as Congress is concerned, it is the oldest party of the capitalist class of this country. Today, if there is relatively less support for Congress from the capitalist class then the real reason behind this is the current economic crisis and recession.
What is recession? Recession is when the average rate of profit of the capitalists falls. That is, if earlier the owners could earn three rupees for every rupee spent, by exploiting the workers and the working masses, that is, by exploiting their labour power, then during the recession, they can only make 1.50 rupees for every rupee. The reason for the tendential fall of the average rate of profit is the increasing mechanization in production and the laying off of workers through the use of advanced technology owing to the mutual competition among the capitalists, and the struggle between the capitalist class and working class. There is a relative increase in the share of investment on machinery and technology, and there is a relative decrease in the share of investment on purchasing labour power, that is on the wages of workers in the total investment. This is the reason why the rate of profit keeps declining through competition. Why? Because in the production of any commodity or service, new value is created only by living labour. Machines and raw materials do not produce new value. The value of machinery and raw material is already produced and it is transferred to the product as it is by the labour of the workers. The new value is created only by the present living labour and this gets divided into wages and profit. Workers get wages enough for sustenance only and the value produced over and above these wages is converted into profit. Hence, as the investment in machinery and raw materials increases, so the average rate of profit falls. This is the root of capitalist crisis. Due to this, unemployment rises, the average income of all common working masses falls, their purchasing power decreases and the commodities that are produced are not sold completely. Consequently, on one hand, there are impoverished people who do not have purchasing power, and on the other, the market is overflowing with commodities. The under-consumption of the common working people and the overproduction of the capitalist economy are expressions of the crisis of falling average rate of profit, which in fact deepen the crisis. Capitalism can never be rid of this because it is born from the root logic of this system, that is, the logic of exploitation of labour, competition and profit.
How can the class of owners and capitalists temporarily stop the fall of its average rate of profit or increase it? It can do this only by reducing the average wages of the working class and working masses. It can do this in many ways: for instance, by increasing the working hours, increasing the intensity of labour (as in, by increasing how much labour a worker gives in an hour), and also through monetary methods, like increasing inflation and decreasing the value of the rupee, which causes the real wages to fall. However, taking these steps creates the possibility of resistance from the working class and common working masses, which the capitalist class is afraid of. Hence, it wants a government of some far-right or dictatorial fascist variety which can brutally suppress the people, oppress them, can make all their democratic rights merely formal, and crush every kind of political opposition, which can include other bourgeois parties as well when necessary.
This is why, during the period of recession, across the whole world, the capitalist class has placed its bets on far-right parties and leaders, such as Erdoğan in Turkey, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Meloni in Italy, and the BJP duo of Modi-Shah in India. Most of them are not fascist leaders or parties, but far-right authoritarian leaders and parties. However, the Sangh Parivar and BJP’s Modi government is a fascist government, because behind it, there is a fascist ideology, a cadre-based organization, and a reactionary movement of the petty-bourgeoisie. In this way, it is the most dangerous kind of regime among all the forms of autocratic regimes. The Modi government is a necessity for Indian capitalist class that is squirming under recession today, because only it can provide an unprecedented opportunity to allow uninterrupted exploitation and plunder of the labour of the working masses and natural resources (which are the collective property of the people) as well as to purchase public undertakings at throwaway rates, and can crush every voice of resistance more effectively than any other bourgeois party, can incite the people to fight in the name of religion, so that they cannot revolt at all, can put aside all rules and regulations and exempt the rich and the moneyed from all kinds of taxes, loans, etc. Other bourgeois parties cannot carry out these tasks the way the fascist BJP government can do. Immediately after coming to power in 2014, the first task that the Modi government undertook was the decision to introduce four anti-worker, pro-capitalist labour codes, and steps were taken to implement them as well after their return to power in 2019. This is why BJP is the favoured party of the capitalist class today, as the electoral bonds issue has demonstrated once again.
However, this does not mean that Congress is the party of the working masses of the country. Congress is the oldest party of the class of owners and capitalists. For nearly six decades after independence, it was under the patronage of Congress governments that the capitalist class got ample opportunity to loot and exploit the people. Firstly, through the so-called ‘mixed economy’ of the ‘public sector’, the capitalist class, weakened by the prolonged slavery under the British, was given an infrastructural framework of roads, traffic and transportation, railways, and an entire edifice of basic industries built with the people’s money; it was sheltered from competition with companies of developed countries through protectionist policies, and given the opportunity for capital accumulation by monopolizing the market for second-rate durable and non-durable consumer goods. By the end of the 1980s, the big capitalists of India such as Tata-Birla, Ambani, Hinduja, Goenka, etc. had been strengthened, a class of middle and small capitalists had emerged, and rural capitalists, that is, rich farmers and kulak landlords had flourished in the villages. Then, it was the Congress government itself that, under the new economic policies introduced in 1991, started to sell the public sector (which was built on the savings and hard work of the masses) to the capitalists for pennies. It was these anti-people economic policies that BJP’s Vajpayee government first implemented with greater pace during the period of capitalist crisis from 1998 to 2004 and it is these policies that the BJP’s Modi government has been implementing in an unrestricted and dictatorial manner since 2014.
Today, in a specific economic and political situation, Congress is not the most favoured party of the capitalist class. However, it is in the interest of the capitalist class to keep it alive as well. This is why it has received the third largest amount of donations through electoral bonds. Congress criticizes BJP’s corruption and launches political attacks while being careful not to upset the capitalist class. In an attempt to take credit, it regularly reminds us that it had introduced the pro-capital policies of privatization and liberalization! It only wants that the opportunity to exploit and plunder must be available to all capitalists equally, not just to Modi’s friends, that is, Ambani and Adani! Even today Rahul Gandhi upholds China’s economy as a benchmark and always dishes out the dream of surpassing it. However, the economy of China today is an example of the worst kind of exploitation of workers. Workers there have no democratic rights, hundreds, sometimes thousands of workers lose their lives in mining accidents every year, they have built such factories where workers do not just work but also live, so that the intensity of their labour can be increased. This cannot be any kind of model for the working masses and workers of our country. In reality, in the name of “socialism” it is actually a social-fascist (that is, socialist in name but autocratic in essence) regime. On the other hand, Congress’s position has been shameful on the matters ranging from secularism to corruption. It must not be forgotten that instead of the policy of true secularism, i.e. complete separation of religion from politics and every sphere of social life, Congress has always adopted the policy of sham secularism (which it never implemented completely honestly) of Sarv Dharm Sambhavana (“Equal treatment of all religions”). Despite making various attempts to present the image of a new Congress, Rahul Gandhi keeps visiting temples now and then to highlight his Hindu identity, though this has never benefitted the Congress; rather the BJP has always taken advantage of such foolish steps.
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Similarly, apart from these two major national bourgeois parties, other smaller national bourgeois parties like BSP and AAP also only represent different factions of the capitalist class. The prospects of Bahujan Samaj Party are already in peril due to fear of BJP these days. Mayawati has been keeping mum about the misdeeds of the ultra-Brahminical party BJP. However, she keeps taking some or the other step to damage the parties of INDIA alliance. Clearly, she does not want her fate to end up like that of Arvind Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh, Manish Sisodia, Hemant Soren or K. Kavitha! Today, if various strands of identitarian and Ambedkarite pragmatist politics are bowing before BJP or joining hands with it, then it is not surprising to anyone. In reality, BSP has its base in a small section of the capitalist class, upper and middle bureaucratic class, middle and lower government employee class born within the Dalit population, that is, overall it has its base in the capitalist class and middle class which has arisen within the Dalits and it mainly represents the capitalist class and middle class emerging from within the Dalit population; however, while representing them, on a general level it also looks after the interests of the capitalist class. It is another matter that it misleads the Dalit working masses by using the Dalit identity and tries to collect votes by making them tail-end the Dalit capitalist class.
In the same manner, Aam Aadmi Party finds its base among middle and small capitalists, businessmen, traders, contractors, middlemen, property dealers, transporters and urban, educated, salaried middle-class. It came into existence selling the fantasy of corruption-free capitalism. Its politics too is a right-wing populist mixture of soft-saffron politics and nationalism. While it claims to not have any ideology, in truth it represents petty-bourgeois right-wing populist ideology, which means presenting a dream of virtuous capitalism it makes many promises to all the classes, but in reality only fulfils the promises made to capitalists, traders and businessmen. For example, it promised workers in Delhi that it would end the contract system for all regular jobs, that minimum wage would be enforced strictly everywhere, that all labour laws would be followed, but none of these promises were fulfilled. The reason behind this is that a substantial portion of its funds come from Delhi’s factory owners, traders, businessmen, contractors, property dealers and various kinds of middlemen and brokers. At the same time, many of its own leaders, such as Girish Soni, Rajesh Gupta etc., are small or middle owners who run factories in Delhi’s industrial areas. Hence, Aam Aadmi Party cannot go against the interests of the class of factory-owners, contractors, i.e., the capitalist class. The party’s economic source and their social base comes from this class. It adopts a few welfare schemes for workers and the working masses from the wealth gathered by the taxes they themselves pay which creates the illusion that it is doing a lot for the common people. Free education, free electricity and free water for a section of the masses only makes sense when these schemes are run by levying special taxes on the wealthy classes. If this cost too has to be borne by the common working masses through increased taxes, then it is meaningless for us. Whatever money a common working person saves on electricity, they would be spending on their increased monthly expenses. Hence, any welfare scheme would even temporarily have meaning only when it is run through progressive wealth taxes and special taxes on the exploiting classes.
If we come to the matter of parties like SP and RJD, in their respective states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, they too represent the rich farmers and capitalist landlord class from middle castes, the class of small and middle factory owners, builders and contractors of their respective states, the urban and rural upper-middle and middle-middle classes born out of middle castes. At the same time, they get the votes of the majority of common Muslim population who are facing the incessant attacks of communal fascism, because they cannot see any other alternative in the electoral realm. When in power, these parties have left no stone unturned to benefit the corporate big capitalist class apart from the regional capitalist class and rural capitalist class (rich farmers and kulaks) of the state. The financial resources of these parties also come from the above mentioned sections of the capitalist class and its middle-class functionaries. Consequently, the character of their policies is determined according to the interests of these classes.
Similarly, in Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party also generally represent the rich and well-to-do farmers coming from middle and backward castes, middle and big entrepreneurs, contractors, builders, dealers because their financial resources mainly come from these classes only. Among these, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena even has many elements of fascism present in it. Apart from politics of spreading communalism against Muslim, its fascism is also based on the anti-migrant politics on the basis of Marathi identitarianism. Today, due to the equations of national politics and especially due to the split in the party engineered by the BJP, it is definitely present in the ‘INDIA’ alliance with Congress and other parties, but it would be suicidal for the working masses and workers to have any doubt about its far-right, semi-fascist character. In any case, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and NCP, both parties serve the big corporate capitalist class and take donations from them, but at the same time they also bargain with the big capitalist class regarding the interests of those classes which it mainly represents, that is the ruling class, upper class and middle class coming from middle and backward castes. It does not represent the interests of workers, working masses, and poor peasants, though a substantial section of the working masses of these castes vote for these parties, because the elite class of their caste votes for these parties and they think that these parties are truly the “party of their caste” or they represent the “interests of their caste”. This happens due to the lack of class consciousness and lack of awareness of their class-interests as well as owing to the absence of a revolutionary alternative, that is, a party truly of the workers and working masses.
Whether it is Jagan Mohan’s YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh, KCR’s Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi in Telangana, or DMK and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, all these parties only represent the big mining capitalists, big kulaks and rich farmers, big builders, wealthy businessmen or big contract companies and such of their respective states and regions. If we look at which capitalists gave donations to these parties through electoral bonds, or which capitalists had earlier given donations to these parties through electoral trusts, then the sources of finance of these parties become clear. If we look at it in terms of their size, these parties have received substantial donations through electoral bonds. Despite being a small bourgeois party confined to one state, Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi is the fourth-biggest recipient of electoral bonds, and it has received a massive donation from Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., which pulled a scam of more than 80 thousand crores in the Kaleswaram Project. Similarly, Tamil Nadu’s DMK received a donation of 509 crores from a lottery company called Future Gaming and Hotel Services. It is another matter that DMK immediately declared which company donated how much in the approximately 650 crores that it received. But this makes absolutely no difference. If these big capitalists are giving donations to any party, it is definitely not for some charitable work! Either they want various government contracts in return, they want exemption from taxes, loan waivers or they want to be rid of the cases and litigations against them. Without this, no owner, businessman, and such would ever let fall even a few rupees out of their pocket. We, the workers-working masses know this. The same companies that have been claiming to have no money to pay wages to their workers, employees, office staff etc. are donating thousands of crores to these electoral parties, mainly BJP and somewhat to other parties also!
Trinamool Congress received more donations than even Congress Party through electoral bonds. This too is not without reason. It is clear from the last 13 years of Trinamool Congress’s regime that despite doing Bengali identity politics among the masses of Bengal and raising populist slogans among Adivasis and the common poor, it has loyally and passionately served the West Bengal’s regional capitalist class and the big capitalist class of the country. Whether it is the question of selling the state’s share in Metro Dairy to private companies, in return for which it received hundreds of crores in electoral bonds from a company named Keventer, or be it the question of providing opportunities for investment to all capitalist houses on extremely lucrative terms (such as excessively less taxation, extremely cheap land and water etc.), the TMC has done it all.
To sum up, there is no exception to this rule: all regional bourgeois parties primarily, in the main, represent that state’s small and middle capitalists, and secondarily represent the domestic big capitalist class of India. These small and middle capitalists include both urban and rural middle and big capitalists. That is, the biggest industrialists, big and middle contract companies, builders, rich businessmen and traders, rich farmers and kulak landlords, etc. At the same time, they have no hostility towards the big corporate capitalist class and wherever possible these parties have provided them immense profit when in power.
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Apart from these openly bourgeois parties, there are also hidden bourgeois parties in the country, which call themselves the representative of the working class, but they also only serve the country’s small and middle industrialists, rich and upper-middle farmers and capitalist landlords. These are the sham communist parties in India. It is these sham communist parties that are called parliamentary left or revisionists in India. CPI i.e., Communist Party of India, CPI (M), i.e., Communist Party of India (Marxist), and CPI (ML), i.e., Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) are the main parties under this category. There are many other small revisionist or reformist parties of different shades, such as Socialist Unity Centre of India, Forward Block, R.S.P. etc. All these parties are often part of the left front. In reality, they represent the interests of small and middle owners, rich farmers and kulaks, and notably the upper sections of the working class in organized sectors (the bourgeofication of a significant section of whom has transformed them into the upper-middle class). Whenever they are in power in any state, such as Kerala or West Bengal and Tripura a few years ago, they have served not just the regional urban and rural capitalist class, the upper and middle strata of the organized working class, small and middle traders and businessmen but, wherever possible, they have also fiercely served the country’s big capitalist class. It was during the CPI (M)-led Left Front’s rule that Buddhadeb Bhattacharya’s government worked fiercely to uproot the poor peasant population and Adivasi population to serve big corporate capital’s interest. The people of this country have not forgotten what happened in Nandigram, Singur and Lalgarh. Besides this, when it comes to the question of economic policies, this parliamentary left essentially and mainly advocates implementing the policies of privatization and liberalization, albeit at a slower pace. They keep chanting ‘moderation, moderation’ in the ears of the capitalists, while the basic mantra of the capitalist class is ‘accumulation, accumulation’, that is, ‘create more profit out of profit’. They also implement some welfare policies along with the policies of loot and plunder, so that they can dissipate the anger of the working class and common working masses. However, the law of profit transgresses the limits of their goodwill and the long-term safeguarding of capitalism by them.
It is also noteworthy that today the central trade unions of these parliamentary left parties do not engage in any struggle pertaining to the issues and demands of the 93 per cent of the working class in the country, namely the unorganized and informal workers; they merely pay lip service. They only address the economic rights of a small segment of organized sector workers and even there, instead of launching a militant struggle, they resort to the ritual of one or two-day strikes once a year or every other year and then go quiet. The reason that the weapon of strike, which happens to be the impeccable weapon of the working class, is undermined in this manner is to put a short-term safety valve on rising workers’ anger. Consider this: why do the trade unions comprising workers from vital sectors such as railways, postal services, telecommunications, banking, insurance, etc., not call for an indefinite general strike against Modi’s Labour Codes or the ongoing privatization and retrenchment policies, when in fact they are perfectly capable of doing so? The reason is evident: once in power, the governments of these parliamentary left parties also want to implement the same policies of privatization, liberalization, and globalization, albeit at a slower pace and with a welfarist mask. Such general strikes would radicalize the entire working class, heightening their consciousness and militancy. Hence, the trade unions of these pseudo-communist parties refrain from organizing such general strikes; they merely go through the motions and rituals, working to clip their wings and restrain the working class within the confines of bourgeois legality.
Thus, it is clear that while the parties funded by the capitalist class, encompassing industrialists, wealthy traders and businessmen, contractors, mine owners, rich farmers and kulaks, entire class of top bureaucrats, and other functionaries of leaders and ministers, will come to you to seek your votes; however, once in power, they will not represent your interests but that of these moneyed elites who have funded them. Have not we witnessed the rule of these bourgeois electoralist parties at both national and state levels over the past 77 years? Is not this truth recognizable? It is a simple principle: he who pays the piper calls the tune.
Today, the country’s capitalist class is allocating more than half of its donations exclusively to the BJP, a situation unprecedented in history. These actions have been facilitated through two of the most significant scams in the country’s history: the Electoral Bonds Scam, which legalized government bribery for favourable treatment, and the Electoral Trust Scam, initiated during the rule of Congress but extensively exploited by the BJP fascists.
The following statistics are revealing. Have a look at them and think: how can these parties genuinely represent your interests? Why does the BJP cultivate such close ties with capitalists? Why does it wield dictatorial power over the working masses to serve the interests of these capitalists? Why does it incite division on religious grounds and seek to erode even the most basic democratic rights? Why has it become the foremost adversary of the entire working class and common working masses?
| Party | Amount Received from Electoral Trusts (2013-2017) ( Crores) |
| BJP | 489 |
| Congress | 86 |
| Other Parties | 61 |
| Party | Amount received through Electoral Bonds (2018-2023) ( Crores) | Major Donor Companies | Total Amount (Electoral Bonds +Electoral Trust) (Crores) |
| BJP | 6987 | Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd. (584 Cr), Quick Supply Chain Pvt. Ltd. (375 Cr) | 7486 |
| Trinamool Congress | 1396 | Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR (542 Cr), Haldia Energy Ltd. (281 Cr) | 1396 |
| Congress | 1334 | Vedanta Ltd. (104 Cr), MKJ Infrastructure Ltd. (91.6 Cr) | 1410 |
| DMK | 616 | Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR (503 Cr) | 616.53 |
| Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) | 912 | Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (195 Cr) | 912 |
| YSR Congress Party | 381 | Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR (154 Cr) | 381 |
| Biju Janta Dal | 774 | Essel Mining and Industries Ltd. (174.5 Cr) | 779.5 |
| Telugu Desam Party | 147 | Shirdi Sai Electronics Ltd. (40 Cr) | 147 |
| Shiv Sena | 101 | BJ Shirke Construction Technology Pvt. Ltd. (85 Cr0 | 104.31 |
| Aam Aadmi Party | 94 | Abis Trading Finance Private Ltd. (10 Cr) | 98 |
| Nationalist Congress Party | 64 | Quick Supply Chain Private Limited (10 Cr) | 74.8 |
| Janata Dal (Secular) | 49 | 49 | |
| Janata Dal (United) | 24 | 27.09 | |
| Samajwadi Party | 14 | 14 |
*These figures are based on the website of Association For Democratic Reforms (ADR) as well as reports from ‘The Hindu’, ‘The Times of India’. The SBI and most parties have not completely disclosed all data pertaining to donations with transparency 10and hence, there is some difference between the figures obtained from different sources.
The above figures clearly indicate that today, all electoralist parties are sustained by heavy donations worth thousands of crores from corporates, factory/mine owners, rich farmers, wealthy traders and businessmen, contractors, agents, brokers and middlemen and that they can only serve the interests of these moneyed classes. What we urgently require is a countrywide party representing the working classes, capable of serving as the revolutionary core for all working people, who will courageously and honestly fight for their rights on every occasion; a party whose candidates if elected will be able to secure for the people the limited political and economic rights currently available within the capitalist system, while also exposing limitations and true character of the current system and through this, arouse, mobilize and organize the working masses and strengthen the struggle for a new socialist revolution. Only such a party can enable the working masses to assert their independent political position in all spheres of politics, including the sphere of elections within the capitalist system.
The ‘Revolutionary Workers’ Party of India’ is one such party that was established by the working masses themselves five years ago. Since then, the party has been participating in elections in five states across the country, courageously and honestly fighting for the rights of working people in about twelve states, and has provided leadership and guidance to various struggles. The party played a significant role in the Anganwadi workers’ strike in Delhi, was involved in the struggles of construction workers and unorganized sector workers in Maharashtra, and played an important role in the spectacular protests against CAA-NRC that broke out in several cities. It took out the Bhagat Singh Jan Adhikar Yatra, spanning over 8,500 km across 13 states, informed the public about the fascist anti-people policies of the Modi government, and aroused and mobilized them against unemployment, inflation, corruption and communalism. It led the struggle of rural workers and poor peasants in Uttar Pradesh, actively participated in the MNREGA workers’ movement in Haryana, and was involved in the struggles for employment and education among common students and lower-middle-class youth in Bihar. From addressing everyday issues faced by the common people to supporting proletarian internationalist causes such as the freedom of Palestine, the party workers have waged several struggles and achieved many small as well as big victories. The RWPI is your very own party, built and sustained with your assistance and support, and that is precisely why you can trust it.
We urge you to join RWPI, become a volunteer/member, and actively participate in its activities. Extend your wholehearted support to RWPI candidates contesting in these six constituencies – Delhi North-East, Delhi North-West, Kurukshetra, Ambedkar Nagar (Uttar Pradesh), Mumbai North-East, and Pune: Vote for them and ensure their victory. Only RWPI candidates can diligently serve the common working people in their respective constituencies as MPs with utmost transparency, honesty, courage, and diligence because this party has been established by the common working masses themselves.
Therefore, our primary task in these six seats is to unitedly vote for RWPI’s proletarian candidates, make every effort to ensure their victory and extend all possible support and co-operation. These candidates represent the interests of Anganwadi workers and other scheme workers; they are the candidates of industrial workers; they represent the aspirations of MGNREGA workers; they embody the interests of unorganized workers in towns and villages across the country; they are the candidates of poor peasants; they are the candidates of unemployed students and youth; they are the candidates of the millions of domestic workers; they are the candidates of lakhs of ordinary working people working in offices, shops and warehouses; they are the candidates of ordinary working women, Dalits, and tribals across the country.
In the remaining seats, there is no real alternative available today. However, there are times when we must first decide “what is it that we do not want”! One thing is abundantly clear: fascism has consistently stood as the greatest and primary adversary of working classes throughout modern history and even today in our country, the communal fascism propagated by the Sangh Parivar and the BJP is the most dangerous enemy of the working masses. If we had a revolutionary party with a countrywide presence which tactically deployed its candidates in these elections then the task, before the ordinary working masses, of choosing the correct option within the domain of bourgeois elections, would have been relatively straightforward. However, such is not the case today and the task of building such an alternative requires time and respite. It is certain that mere electoral defeat will not decisively defeat communal fascism in the country. Many people had made the mistake of nurturing the same misconceptions in 2004 and 2009, and the people of the country are facing the consequences of that even today. The BJP and Sangh Parivar will only receive a short-term shock on being pushed out of power. In the period of a protracted crisis of capitalism, all conditions are ripe for ensuring that a fascist upsurge yet again reaches the echelons of power and forms government and such conditions will continue to remain within the ambit of the capitalist system, namely: social and economic insecurity and uncertainty arising among the broad lower-middle-class and petty bourgeoisie due to the constant fear of ruination and the blind reaction born because of it; the fascization of all state bodies, institutions and processes of the bourgeois state being carried out by the Sangh Parivar and BJP gradually and meticulously over the past several decades, and which, after 2014, has qualitatively reached a new stage; the cadre-based organization of the Sangh Parivar and BJP, which is different from the structure of other bourgeois parties.
This is the differentia specifica of the fascist ascent in present times: it can form government and can subsequently even go out of government, because it has learned its lessons from history: formally dissolving bourgeois democracy through exceptional laws, like Hitler and Mussolini, is not good for the long-term sustenance of the fascist upsurge. While fascism rises cataclysmically and suddenly as a result of formal dissolution of bourgeois democracy, it collapses just as cataclysmically and suddenly, as was the case with Fascist and Nazi parties in Italy and Germany respectively. However, fascists of our era do not even need to formally dismantle bourgeois democracy. In the twentieth century, bourgeois democracy still had some residual strength which posed a hindrance to fascist rule to a certain extent. However, bourgeois democracy has lost all of its remaining democratic potential also today. Hence, its formal dissolution is not advantageous but rather detrimental to fascist forces. Consequently, they prefer to consolidate control over state bodies and institutions from within, bolster their positions in the entire society, fortify the reactionary social movement backing them, and upon assuming power, refrain from dissolution of elections or formally abrogating constitutional civil rights nor do they openly subjugate the judiciary. Nevertheless, by seizing control of the state machinery internally, only the shell of bourgeois democracy remains, while its essence keeps getting eroded.
Of course, maintaining this shell presents its own set of contradictions. For instance, fascist forces may lose elections and subsequently exit governments or, the bourgeois judiciary may ostensibly render decisions that seem to temporarily go against the interests of these fascist powers. The fascists do employ numerous tactics to pre-empt such possibilities, like the BJP is doing with EVM, electoral bonds, Godi media etc. However, despite employing these machinations, there remains the chance that fascist forces may still lose elections. But this does not equate to a definitive and decisive defeat of fascism. Rather, during this temporary departure from power, fascist forces consolidate their positions within the entire state apparatus and society, capitalize on the uncertainty and insecurity stemming from the capitalist crisis among the masses by creating anew the fear of a false enemy, bolster the reactionary petty-bourgeois movement it has already built among the masses and orchestrate another attempt to come to power, operating this time on a higher level, and with increased aggression. The events of the past 26 years serve as a testament to this fact. During times of crisis, the capitalist class, particularly the big bourgeoisie, consistently lends support to these forces. This is because neither a Congress government nor a Third Front government can alleviate the crisis of declining average rate of profit as effectively as a fascist regime. Consequently, in the period of protracted capitalist crisis and in the absence of a revolutionary countrywide party of the working class and common working masses equipped with the correct ideology and program, ultimately the fascist forces ascend to power more ferociously and brutally than before. The trajectory of history from 1998 until now attests to this phenomenon. It is akin to a paroxysm which intensifies with each recurrence.
However, defeat in the elections will undoubtedly deliver an immediate blow to the fascist and anti-people, anti-working class, anti-poor, anti-women and anti-Dalit Modi-Shah Government. In a limited sense, it will afford some time to the working masses of the country for the building and formation of a revolutionary leadership and party. Nevertheless, on the ground, the revolutionary force of the working people would have to continuously confront the fascists with the strength of their militant organization. Hence, in the six seats where RWPI candidates are standing, we urge you to unitedly and steadfastly support them. Besides this, in all other constituencies, we must ensure the defeat of the fascist BJP government. This is why we emphasize the importance of sometimes deciding what we do not want before determining what we do want. Occasionally, to achieve what we want, it becomes necessary in the short-term to decide what we do not want.
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It should also be clear that any government, whether led by the Congress or any third-front coalition, will not be able to do anything in particular to rein in the Sangh Parivar and BJP. This is not because they are unwilling to do so – it has nothing to do with their willingness or the lack of it – but rather because the capitalist class of the country needs the fascist BJP and Sangh Parivar. Secondly, the machinery of state power will not allow them to take any serious measure because of the deep infiltration and hold of the Sangh Parivar and BJP within it. This is why the Congress reneged upon its promise to ban Bajrang Dal in Karnataka. The issue here is not merely about intentions, but also about the capability as a party of the capitalist class. For that matter, we cannot be sure even about the intentions of Congress! It was the Maharashtra government of this very same Congress party which, to destroy an upsurge of the working class, had nurtured an anti-immigrant communal fascist party like the Shiv Sena. Congress is also incapable of taking a firm stance against fascism because it itself has to resort to a soft communal line when necessary and because the capitalist class which funds it will never allow it to do so. The astute political strategists, think-tanks and guardians of the capitalist class understand that during the period of crisis-ridden capitalism, the capitalist class, as a politically organized class, will always need the fascist forces. Hence, during periods of protracted crises, even when they are not in power, the fascist forces will continue their attacks on the working class and the common working people, like chained rabid dogs. The only difference being that the immediate executive decisions of the government would not be completely in the control of the fascists, which might provide relatively more ‘space’ for any tactical manoeuvring to the working masses and their revolutionary leadership. Therefore, our second task today is this: to ensure that the BJP is defeated in elections and is kept out of government. Another five years under the Modi government would undoubtedly bring about further ruin and devastation for the working people of the country.
Socio-Economic Situation of the Country
First and foremost, it is crucial to grasp this fact: there has never been a surge in unemployment, poverty, hunger, malnutrition, and homelessness, like it has been under the Modi government’s rule. If one refrains from succumbing to the false propaganda, misleading hoardings and posters, fake Whatsapp messages and disregards the continuous stream of misinformation disseminated by the state-sponsored Godi media, and instead takes a moment to reflect seriously on one’s own living conditions and those of their fellow citizens and families, a stark truth emerges: the nutrition, commodities, services, education, and healthcare we could afford from our incomes, wages or salaries a decade ago are no longer affordable; the quality of education we could access a decade ago is no longer accessible; the scale of unemployment we are suffering today is much scarier than it was a decade ago; the state of homelessness today is much worse than it was a decade ago; the number of corruption scandals in the past decade exceeds the total number of all such scandals between 1947 and 2014; additionally, the country’s foreign debt has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels and broken all records in the past decade. Let us delve into some statistics.
During the second term of the Modi government, hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the BJP government, adept at subterfuge, made every possible effort to manipulate the data in this regard. Despite the government’s propaganda machinery, the truth of the large number of dead bodies floating on the banks of the Ganga and outside hospitals, crematoriums, and graveyards could not be concealed. While the government officially claimed that 523,975 people had died due to the Corona pandemic, according to World Health Organization data, the number stood at 47 Lakh 40 Thousand deaths, nearly ten times higher! It was the criminal negligence and mismanagement of the Modi-Shah government that inflicted the most suffering upon the common, impoverished working population of the country. The sight of migrant labourers returning to their villages and homes, as well as images of people struggling due to the shortage of oxygen cylinders, remain etched in our minds. The fascist Modi government’s criminal negligence was solely responsible for this dire situation. Such shamelessness is rarely witnessed in the annals of world history. From the Modi government’s absurd thali-banging to the abrupt shock and awe announcement of an unplanned lockdown, it is evident that the state of health facilities in the country has deteriorated even further during the Modi era, with private companies being invited to profiteer even in the healthcare sector. It is not a coincidence that Adar Poonawalla, owner of the Serum Institute of India, which manufactured the Covid vaccine, made enormous donations to the BJP through electoral bonds.
Despite Modi’s claims of creating 2 crore new jobs annually, approximately 32 crore people are currently grappling with unemployment. The heat of recession is being felt even by the employed, with many reputable companies resorting to indiscriminate layoffs. During the Modi government’s tenure, there were 22 Crore 5 Lakh applications for government jobs, of which only 7 Lakh 22 Thousand got jobs. Moreover, due to demonetization and the unplanned lockdown amidst the Corona pandemic, nearly 4 Crore people lost their jobs, of which the majority were labourers and individuals from the lower-middle class.
India’s ranking on the Global Hunger Index has plummeted. While it was in the 55th position (out of 76 countries) in 2014, it is now placed in the 111th position (out of 125 countries) in 2023. Despite being one of the world’s top food-producing countries, India now compares unfavourably not only with its neighbours but also with the poorest sub-Saharan African countries as far as condition of starvation and malnutrition is concerned. People sitting in the government shamelessly boast about pushing 80 crore people to the brink of starvation and making them stand in queues for obtaining their quota of 5 kilograms of ration. According to a recent UNICEF report, while 9.2 percent of the global population suffers from undernourishment, the figure in India stands at 16.6 percent. A quarter of the world’s undernourished population now resides in India.
In 2014, India was ranked 130th among 188 countries in the Human Development Index. Presently, it stands at 134th place among 193 countries. Under Modi’s rule, the promise of permanent housing for all and in-situ rehabilitation for all slum-dwellers has remained a jumla as crores of people are forced to sleep in dilapidated slum dwellings or on footpaths every day. Under the name of Agniveer Scheme, the government has eliminated permanent employment opportunities in the army. The New Education Policy 2020 is a document which promotes communalization and privatization of education. An alarming 88 percent of the student population of the country has been pushed out of higher education. The state of education is deteriorating day by day. In this terrible atmosphere of desperation, people are being forced to embrace death. Official data alone reveals that in the four years from 2017 to 2021, 7,20,611 people committed suicide, of whom the majority were labourers, poor farmers, students, youth, and small own account entrepreneurs.
This is not to say that nobody experienced development under Modi-Raj! However, the pertinent question is: whose development! Over the past decade, the living conditions of the common masses have plummeted into despair, while Modi’s favoured capitalists, such as Ambani and Adani, have seen their wealth skyrocket by 400 per cent and 1830 per cent respectively. During its decade-long period of reign, the Modi government has subjected the public to astronomical inflation rates. The price of every commodity has soared uncontrollably. According to a report, the average citizen, even when they are only eating meagre dry meals, spends 53 percent of their income on food, whereas the rich, even after indulging extravagantly to satisfy their palettes, end up spending a mere 12 per cent of their income on food. The government has also imposed hefty taxes on petroleum products, and this is the primary driver of inflation and price-rise.
The BJP government has been embroiled in some of the largest and most glaring corruption scandals to ever surface in Indian history. The Rafale scam, PM-CARES scam, and Vyapam scam are just a few examples. The electoral bonds mega scam has shattered records of government corruption, in which the government itself has been found to be operating akin to a mafia or extortion racket. Moreover, in order to secure vote-banks, the BJP has allied itself with the most corrupt individuals from every other party and has whitewashed all of their crimes. Whether it is the PM CARES Fund scam, NPA scam, demonetization scandal, Rafale aircraft purchase, Central Vista project, or the Adani case brought to light by Hindenburg, the Modi government’s hands are tainted with the pervasive filth of corruption.
On one hand, poverty is escalating in the country, while on the other hand, the wealth possessed by the handful of capitalists at the top is soaring. In 1981, the top 10 percent of India’s wealthiest held 45 percent of the country’s total wealth, a figure that surged to 63 percent by 2012 and has now surpassed 80 percent in 2022. The top 1 percent of the country’s rich and affluent have amassed 40 percent of the nation’s wealth, whereas the bottom 50 percent of the poor and impoverished—a demographic that constitutes the backbone of production and which produces everything from a needle to an aircraft—possess only 3 percent of the total wealth. Presently, the outrageous system of loot that is GST has broken the backs of the people. While 64 percent of GST is shouldered by 50 per cent of the country’s impoverished population, the wealthy elite, who have usurped control over all of the country’s resources, contribute a mere 10 per cent. Under Modi’s governance, between 2015 and 2021, loans amounting to Rs 11 Lakh 19 Thousand Crore were classified as Non-Performing Assets, and only around Rs 1 Lakh Crore was recovered. In other words, Rs 10 Lakh 19 Thousand Crore was directly pocketed by the wealthy. In comparison, the total loan waivers in the decade from 2004 to 2014 was Rs 2 Lakh 22 Thousand Crore! The number of ‘wilful defaulters,’ i.e. individuals who failed to repay loans exceeding Rs 25 Lakh, has surged to 15,000, with approximately 40 rich businessmen absconding from the country after squandering public funds. It is evident that over these ten years, the Modi government has prioritized the interests of the rich over those of the people.
The figures outlined above shed light on the deteriorating condition of workers over the past decade. Concurrently, the Modi government has escalated its assault on the working class. The few remaining rights of workers are being systematically eroded through the implementation of the four labour codes. These new labour laws will make it even more challenging for workers to organize and form unions.
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Similarly, let’s examine the situation of women, Dalits, tribals, and particularly the Muslim working population in the country over the last 10 years.
The fascist regime of Modi-Shah is wreaking havoc on the lives of the people. While the entire common working population of the country is being devastated by this havoc, it has made life hell for women, Dalits, tribals, working Muslim people, and ordinary workers in particular. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), i.e. according to the government’s own report, the number of registered cases of crimes against women rose from 3,37,922 in 2014 to 4,45,256 in 2022. Currently, a woman goes missing in the country every fourth minute. Since 2016, there has been a 26.35 percent increase in crimes against women. In the present Lok Sabha, approximately 44 percent of MPs have serious criminal cases against them, of whom a large section belong to the BJP. How can a party which harbours criminals such as Kuldeep Sengar, Chinmayanand, Brij Bhushan Singh, Sakshi Maharaj, M.J. Akbar, Sandeep Singh, Yediyurappa, and Vijay Jolly crack down on atrocities against women? Instances of organizing tri-colour rallies in support of rapists, releasing and welcoming convicted rapists with garlands, or resorting to character-assassination of victims have become alarmingly common. The Modi government tried, to some extent, to ameliorate this terrible anti-woman record by passing the Women’s Reservation Bill but even here, its true intentions and character were revealed. The Modi government backed away from immediate implementation of one-third reservation in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies, deferring it until the next census and delimitation! It is another matter that the passing and implementation of such a bill would not bring any benefit to the majority of working women in the country and would only give rise to a ruling class from among women, which is also present today. Nevertheless, it is unequivocally clear that no party is more anti-women than the BJP. Hence, a popular saying among the public has emerged: “Save the daughter, but from BJP members!” (A modification of the title of BJP’s so-called women empowerment slogan “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” that is “Save the daughter, educate the daughter”)
There has been a tremendous surge in crimes against Dalits during Modi’s tenure. According to the NCRB, 39,408 cases of crimes against Dalits were registered in 2013, a figure that escalated to 57,582 in 2022. This marks a staggering 46 percent increase in crimes against Dalits over the course of Modi’s decade long rule. Within these incidents, the poor Dalit population and Dalit women are enduring the most egregious forms of caste-based oppression. In the year 2020 alone, 50,291 cases of crimes against Dalits were registered, yet only 3,242 cases—merely 6 percent of the total—were disposed and only 0.01% cases saw any conviction. This stark reality exposes the hollow claims of the BJP’s professed affection for Dalits and is enough to expose the reality of “Ramrajya”. While the BJP freely uses identity politics to bolster its vote bank and promotes various caste leaders, anti-Dalit crimes continue to surge unabated under its governance.
Crimes against tribals have surged by 48.15 percent during the BJP’s tenure. Not only are the tribal communities being systematically deprived of their customary rights to Jal-Jangal-Jameen (water, forests, land), they are also being deprived of their right to life. The BJP has tried to mask its loot of Adivasis and fool them by electing an Adivasi president and by conferring the title of “Vanvasi” on them; however, the reality is that there is no place for the poor tribal population under the rule of the BJP.
The working Muslim population has been particularly targeted under the Modi government. The fabricated “threat” from this population is used to deceive the common poor Hindu population. A staggering 80 per cent of anti-Muslim hate crimes have occurred during the BJP’s rule alone. Incidents of hate crimes, wherein innocent individuals have been targeted under the pretext of so-called ‘Love Jihad’, while other individuals have been falsely accused of cow slaughter and lynched, have been continuously increasing. A significant portion of the victims of communal riots, mob lynching, and unjust bulldozer demolitions are poor working Muslims. Anti-Muslim propaganda is especially amplified before elections under the BJP’s hate-driven polarization politics. Compared to the first six months of 2023, anti-Muslim speeches increased by 62 percent in the latter half of 2023. The government is continuously fostering an environment of communal violence through the implementation of laws and policies such as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). These laws fundamentally discriminate against all working people, with the case of Assam being its most glaring example. The BJP’s model of “Ramrajya” is nothing but the naked dictatorship of capitalists. Under this rule, while the lives of workers, poor peasants, and employees have plummeted into despair, it is the women, Dalits, Muslims, and Adivasis of the working class and common working masses who have especially borne the brunt of the devastation.
In addition, the Modi government’s objective behind the recent introduction of new criminal penal codes (Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Samhita, 2023, Bhartiya Nyay Samhita, 2023, and Bhartiya Suraksha Adhiniyam, 2023) is to crack down on every form of resistance and deal with it in the harshest manner. The Modi government knows and understands that its blatant and shameless implementation of pro-capital policies will inevitably stir mass discontent and resistance. Hence it is pre-emptively making legal arrangements to effectively manage such scenarios. Though the existing justice system and law enforcement apparatus did not especially pose any significant hurdle for the government, the newly enacted laws are even more anti-people. Over the past decade, there have been countless incidents of repression against political activists and journalists. The Modi-Shah government has aggressively weaponized repressive anti-people laws such as Sedition and UAPA and used them as political tool against political opponents and dissenters. Between 2014 and 2022, a total of 8,719 cases were registered under UAPA, alongside 495 cases of sedition.
The current situation from Kashmir to Manipur further exposes the fascist character of the Modi government. The actions taken by the Modi government, from the abrogation of Article 370 to the implementation of laws aimed at altering the demographic structure of Kashmir, not only illustrate the historical betrayal of the Kashmiri nation by the Indian state but also mark a qualitative shift on the issue of national oppression of oppressed nations during this fascist era. Similarly, in Manipur, violence has persisted since May 2023, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people, numerous injuries, and the displacement of thousands, which brings forth the hollowness of BJP’s claims of a “double-engine government.” This violence also unveils the complicit role of the state machinery in perpetrating such incidents. During this period, by inciting and furthering identity politics, the Maitei-Kuki dispute was exploited by the fascist BJP to advance its divisive politics in the North-East.
The aforementioned figures provide only a glimpse of the socio-economic conditions of the lives of common working people in the country. However, from these figures alone, it is evident how, over the past 10 years, the anti-people Modi-Shah government of the BJP has transformed disasters into opportunities for the capitalist class while turning opportunities into disasters for the people.
The aforementioned facts and figures underscore the dual tasks we have outlined earlier. Today, only a party rooted in and emerging from the working class and working masses can safeguard the interests of the common working masses and militantly fight and lead struggles for them. Firstly, vote for RWPI candidates in the six seats where candidates from the RWPI, the very own party of the workers and the working masses, are contesting the upcoming 18th Lok Sabha elections commencing in April. Secondly, on all other seats, the primary consideration should be “what not to choose.” It is evident that another five years of Modi government will bring unprecedented destruction and at an unparalleled pace for the people of the country, narrowing the democratic space for people’s resistance due to its dictatorial fascist attitude. Therefore, our second crucial task is to deliver an immediate shock to the fascist forces by removing the BJP and Sangh Parivar from government. Of course, the Congress or any other bourgeois party also serves the interests of the rich and the moneyed classes. However, there exists a distinction between a fascist bourgeois party and any other bourgeois party, which is essential to grasp in order to effectively advance the anti-fascist struggle and broader anti-capitalist movements in general. Today, to establish their revolutionary leadership and organization countrywide, it is imperative for the working masses of the country to defeat the BJP in the upcoming elections.
Our Program
- All indirect taxes should be abolished and the system of progressive taxation should be properly implemented on the incomes and inherited property. That is to say, the rich, upper-middle and well-to-do middle classes should pay direct taxes, rate of which will increase with increasing income.
- All banks, private capitalist enterprises, and mines should be completely nationalized. If we cast a glance at the total wealth of the corporate houses, we will find that their major share comes from the loans taken from banks, especially public banks, which is the money of the people. Moreover, all the riches and wealth of these companies are produced by the working class collectively, which is owned by these capitalists. Even if we look at the matter from the perspective of common logic, the working class has long ago paid back the initial investments made by the owners of these companies in the form of profits. Today, every nail owned by these companies rightfully belongs to the workers and employees of these companies in common. Therefore, the entire wealth and assets of all these companies and corporate houses should be declared collection property of the country.
- Land should be nationalized and all farms, which are not cultivated solely by the peasants themselves or their family labour but rather by hired wage labourers on a regular basis, should be collectivized and handed over to the collectives of poor peasants and agricultural labourers, or should be converted into model state farms. Even by the logic of capitalism, land cannot be anyone’s private property. It is a natural resource which should be used in common by all.•
- The right to work is, in fact, the right to live. Without the right to work, a formal right to live is a mere deception. The right to work should be included in the fundamental rights in the constitution. For this, the necessary constitutional amendment should be made and ‘Bhagat Singh National Employment Guarantee Act’ be enacted, under which the government should be responsible for providing permanent employment for the entire year, failing which, the government should make provision for Rs. 15,000 as unemployment allowance.
- All vacant posts in all departments of central and state governments and all public sector undertakings should be immediately filled.
- The four anti-worker labour codes should be immediately repealed. Contractual employment in all work that is regular in nature should be completely abolished.
- The working day should legally be reduced to 6 hours a day. In the decade of 1970, the share of wages in the value of total production of country was approximately 30 percent, which has now fallen below 11 percent. The working class is producing much more than what it was in the 1970s and the technology, too, has made considerable advancements, which resultantly has increased the productivity of labour incredibly. However, their real wages have not increased in the same proportion; on the contrary, the working hours have increased. It is totally justified today to demand that the length of the work day should be decreased to 6 hours. This will also lead to generation of new jobs in huge numbers.
- The national level minimum wage should be increased at least to Rs.30,000 per month. Today, with less than this much income, a family of four, struggles to fulfil even its basic needs. The states in which the cost of living is higher, the minimum wage should be enhanced even further in accordance with the increased cost of living.
- In all industries, the safety of workers should be properly guaranteed and all the safety standards should be duly implemented.
- The system of overtime should be completely abolished. The workers only undertake overtime work “voluntarily” or involuntarily owing to low wages. This dehumanizes the lives of workers and turns them into a machine or a beast of burden. To put an end to this kind of dehumanization of the working class, the system of overtime should be entirely abolished.
- Night work (night shift) should be abolished and should only be allowed in the industries where it is absolutely necessary. In those industries too, the duration of night work will not exceed four hours and this would be regulated under the supervision of workers’ unions in all such industries.
- Hiring of young persons below the age of school children (16 years) should be completely prohibited. For young persons between 16 and 18 years of age, the working hours should not exceed 4 hours.
- Woman labour should be prohibited in all such industries which are hazardous to women’s health. All pregnant women workers should be given paid maternity leave for 6 months before and 6 months after the child birth.
- In all branches of industry, women should be given equal pay as the male workers and night work for women should be prohibited in all industries, except where it is absolutely necessary. In those cases too, the night work will not exceed 4 hours and it should be the responsibility of the employer to arrange safe transport of women workers from home to work and back.
- In the enterprises where women are employed, there should be proper arrangement of crèche and nursery inside the work place and breast-feeding mothers should be given at least half-an-hour break at every 3 hours for this.
- In all enterprises, at least one day weekly off should be given, which is not being implemented in reality despite existing legally.
- For workers and common working masses who do not exploit the labour of others, there should be a system of state insurance under which the state should be obligated to pay the insurance money in case of any kind of handicap, sickness, birth of a child, death of spouse, orphans. For this insurance scheme, the government should collect money by charging special cess on capitalists.
- Payment of wages in kind should be completely prohibited and a fixed monthly date of payment of wages should be determined in every industry.
- The deductions in wages under any pretext by the employers should be totally prohibited.
- The labour department should be expanded with large-scale new recruitments. New labour inspectors, factory inspectors and boiler inspectors should be recruited in such numbers that all economic units could be inspected in a regular and thorough fashion. All the inspection teams should be reorganized on the principle of ‘three-in-one’ with government-appointed inspectors, elected representatives of workers’ organizations/unions, and representative of employers included in it, with the proviso that the workers’ representatives should be in majority.
- In all industrial units the management of labour and production should be given to the ‘three-in-one’ committees of elected representatives of workers, managers and technicians, in which the workers’ representatives should be in majority. The speed and aims of production should be determined by this committee.
- For all industries hiring women workers, there should be arrangement of women labour inspectors.
- For all industries, strict rules and regulations for cleanliness and hygiene should be framed according to which there should be arrangement of clean bathrooms, toilets, etc. in all industrial units. For the inspection of this, a sanitary inspectorate should be constituted in the labour department.
- To ensure the above, necessary amendments should be made in the labour laws and their violation should be made a punishable criminal offence. Only small monetary fines are not a deterrent, or problem for the owners. Therefore, there should be at least a non-bailable 3-month imprisonment for the violation of any labour law.
- A separate labour exchange should be constituted for the domestic workers, in which they should be registered and which will provide domestic worker to any individual who applies. All labour laws including minimum wages should be implemented for the domestic workers. There should be a separate legislation for them which will ensure their dignity, egalitarian behaviour with them in houses and their employment security. Not only the identity and registration of domestic workers should be ensured, but also their employers should be duly investigated, identified and registered.
- For the labourers who gather at the so-called ‘labour-chowks’ too, a separate labour exchange should be constituted in which, their minimum daily-wage and working hours should be regulated. Their identity cards should be made and anyone wanting to hire labour for casual work should be obliged to contact these exchanges only.
- The work of agricultural labourers should be brought under the ambit of labour laws and a proper structure should be constituted to ensure proper implementation. A system for the provision of year-long work under MGNREGA should be made. To create a proper system of subsidies on seeds, fertilizer, electricity etc. for poor and middle peasants (who do not exploit the labour of others and ordinarily work either by themselves or take the help of their families), a special tax should be levied on the wealthy and rich classes. Proper arrangement for institutional loans and government-run system of irrigation should be made.
- In all industries, industrial and labour courts should be constituted which will have the power to resolve industrial disputes and take penal action against those who violate the labour laws.
- All the scheme workers like the Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, Mid-Day meal workers etc. should be given the status of permanent employees and in place of special schemes like the Integrated Child Development Scheme or Rural Health Mission, the government should establish proper departments for all these welfare work and these functions should be made part of state policy, rather than that of a special scheme.
- A central law should be made to bring gig workers under the purview of labour laws and ensure that they have access to all social securities.
- Manual scavenging should be immediately banned.•
- The Special Economic Zone (SEZ) law should immediately be repealed and all the existing SEZs should be closed down.
- Forced acquisition of land for corporate interests should be entirely prohibited and if for common people’s interest the land acquisition is necessary, then the entire affected population should be properly rehabilitated.•
- New Education Policy, 2020 should be immediately repealed. System of private schools and educational institutions should be totally abolished and for every citizen of India equal and free education from primary education to higher education should be provided by the state. Every child irrespective of his/her family or background should get equal education. School education should be linked with production-related training and this should be made compulsory for all children.
- Everyone should have the freedom to learn, work, think and express in their own mother-tongue. Therefore, no language should be accorded the status of ‘state language’. In every region, the masses shall have the right of education, all administrative work, judicial activities in their own mother-tongue. The business and undertakings of courts, government offices and all departments shall be conducted in the language/languages of the people of that region.•
- State housing should be provided for all working people. These houses should be given to them on the basis of usufruct (the right to enjoy the use), and selling or renting them should be completely prohibited. For this, all the vacant private apartments, flats and houses should be confiscated by the government. Though the housing problem can be completely resolved only when private property in land and house is abolished completely, yet, till such a day, giving pukka houses to all workers and jhuggi-dwellers on the basis of usufruct should be made into the responsibility of the government, so that the fundamental right of housing could be ensured.
- The government should guarantee free universal healthcare, under which the treatment and medicine should be the responsibility of the government. The right to healthcare should be declared a constitutional right and be included in the list of fundamental rights.
- An effective system of rationing should be made under the public distribution system by the government and ration shops should be opened in all areas.
- New Pension Scheme should be immediately annulled and by consulting workers’ organizations a new fair and rational pension scheme should be implemented and till that time, the old pension scheme should be continued.•
- The State should be made fully independent of religion, religious institutions and all kinds of religious activities.
- Religion should be completely separated from political and social life and it should be entirely a private affair of citizens.
- All educational institutions should be separated from religion and religious activities, for instance, religious prayers, religious ceremonies, religious symbols, etc.•
- In all villages and cities, Mohalla Sabhas (area assemblies) of citizens should be constituted and decisions regarding the use of allocated money in all government schemes should lie in the hands of these sabhas (assemblies).
- All companies not repaying the public debts and loans and those declared Non Performing Assets should be immediately nationalized and should be declared the property of the people.
- There should be total government control on all kinds of natural resources and leasing them out for exploitation to the corporate houses under any kind of agreement should be prohibited with immediate effect.
- An appropriate social security legislation for fulfilment of all basic needs of all physically or mentally invalid, orphans, elderly persons should be enacted and the responsibility of the government regarding this should be fixed and ensured. All citizens over the age of 60 should receive an old age pension of 10,000rs. per month.
- It should be the responsibility of the government to ensure employment and housing for all single women who have been victims of domestic violence, harassment, assault, etc. and to ensure this a strict law should be made.
- In all villages and cities, such community centres should be built which are equipped with sports centre, gymnasium, library and reading room, cultural centres, so that all citizens can get full opportunity for complete mental and physical development.•
- All draconian and anti-democratic laws like the UAPA, MCOCA, UPCOCA, etc. should be immediately repealed.
- The Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Samhita, brought by the Modi government after repealing the sedition law is even more repressive than the latter and should be immediately repealed with immediate effect. Moreover, all the anti-people laws and rules of colonial period including the IPC, CrPC, and Jail Manual should be immediately repealed. The Official Secrets Act should be immediately repealed.
- Section 144 should be immediately repealed.
- AFSPA and Disturbed Areas Act should be immediately repealed.
- The entire scheme of Aadhar should be annulled immediately.
- All political prisoners should be given all the rights of political prisoners and all those imprisoned under draconian laws should be immediately released.
- The denial of the democratic rights of workers and employees such as strike through the use of laws like ESMA should be put to an end and such laws should be immediately repealed.
- The laws, such as CAMPA and EPA, which give the corporates free hand to plunder the forests and environment should be immediately repealed and all the orders, rules and laws displacing the tribals from their right of communal use of the water, forests and land should be immediately annulled. Stringent penal action against the owners of industrial units causing pollution should be ensured.
- The workers should get the full right to form unions and all the laws and rules creating hurdles in this should be immediately repealed.
- Article 370 and 35A should be restored, in accordance with the original promise made by the Indian state. Consistent democracy and not coercion should be the basis of determining co-existence in a unitary structure or as a federation of all nations under a common state. Kashmir and North-Eastern states as well as Chattisgarh should be completely demilitarized.
- Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) should be immediately annulled. Proposed anti-people exercises such as NRC and NPR should be immediately withdrawn.
- Uniform Civil Code should be implemented for all citizens of the country. The conspiracy of the BJP government to impose a communal code under the name of Uniform Civil Code should be stopped.
- A strict law to completely prohibit all the electoral parties from using religious symbols, religious sentiments, caste identities and caste sentiments in any form in their electoral propaganda and other activities should be enacted and violation of this law should incur stringent punishment.
- A strict law should be made to ensure stringent penal action against the individuals and organizations accused of riots.
- A high-level enquiry of all the scams during the last ten years like the Electoral Bond scam, PM-Cares Scam, Rafale Scam, Demonetisation Scam, NPA Scam should be conducted immediately.•
- All forms of social oppression and any discrimination which takes place on this basis should be considered a punishable offence. The state should implement the principle of sexual and gender equality at all levels in political, economic, social, cultural spheres and any act of gender and sexual discrimination should be declared a punishable offence. Not only untouchability but all kinds of caste-based discrimination should be declared a punishable offence and caste-based matrimonial advertisements, caste-based associations and caste-based panchayats should be prohibited with immediate effect.
- All the nations within India should have the full right to self-determination including the right to secede. All nationalities (that is, national minorities) should have the right to consistent democracy, for instance, right to education, administrative and judicial work in their language. A common state of all the working masses of all nations cannot be formed on the basis of coercion but only on the basis of voluntary decision. We side with the formation of biggest possible common state of all nations and nationalities on democratic basis by voluntary acceptance.
- In order to ensure the liberation of women, in all villages and cities, arrangement of sufficient crèches, nurseries and day-boarding should be made and the government should also construct huge community kitchens, where food on cost-value should be available.•
- All parties registered by the Election Commission should be brought under the Right to Information Act immediately.
- The use of EVMs from the election process should be completely done away with and the system of paper ballets should be restored.
- In order to end the power of money from the elections, small constituencies should be formed, the system of proportional representation should be established and all money or property-related pre-requisites to contest in an election should be done away with immediately. The right to recall can, as a matter of fact, be ensured for the people only in such an electoral system.
- There should be public audit of all government bodies and this audit should be done by committees elected by the people.
- The Police and Army should be used for productive work in the peace-time and they should be given all the democratic rights like study of political literature, forming unions, strike, etc. The humiliating and colonial system of orderlies should be abolished immediately in the police and the army. The army officials should be elected by the soldiers. Only an elected army official can be a true authority with acceptance.
- Military training for all citizens who are physically healthy and capable should be made mandatory. Eventually, the entire people shall be universally armed and the institution of standing army and police shall be abolished. Every citizen going for military service shall be given full wages for every day of military service by their employers.
- The huge expenditure incurred on the purchase of arms and the privileges of army officers shall be curtailed.
- The valid democratic demand of One Rank One Pension by the soldiers should be immediately accepted.
- The discrimination vis-à-vis food and living conditions based on rank in the police, military and paramilitary forces should be immediately abolished.•
- No government official or elected people’s representative should be given salary more than the wages of a skilled worker. Eventually, the system of election of all officials should be established and the electorate will have the right to recall them. Only then corruption can be curbed.
- The privileges and special facilities given to MPs, MLAs, corporators, ministers, bureaucrats etc. should be abolished.
- The system of elected jury should be restored and established in the entire judiciary and eventually the system of election of individual judges by the masses should be put into practice.
- The humongous media apparatus controlled by the corporate houses has become an instrument of suppressing the truth, propaganda of various falsehoods and manufacturing consent in favour of the exploitative and repressive power and especially in favour of communal fascism in present times. On the other hand, the forms and means of people’s media standing against the power are regulated and curtailed in every possible way. While keeping in mind the original spirit of freedom of press and expression, a body of elected people’s representative should be formed which will prohibit the news and entertainment media from spreading lies, superstition and unscientific ideas and ensure fact-based reporting. An effective law should be brought in to potently stop fake news. The policy of government advertisements and subsidies should be implemented in a transparent fashion.
- A strict law should be made to ensure the economic interests, political rights, for instance the right to organize and form unions, and the safety of media workers and a system should be put in place to ensure that the government or the capitalist class cannot intervene in their work and functioning on the basis of money power.
- The government has given unhindered right to various intelligence, police and military agencies to snoop and intervene in the private lives of citizens. This should be immediately annulled and if there is a need to have vigilance over an individual or organization on the basis of any potential danger to public safety, such agencies should be obliged to seek a written permission from an elected body of people’s representatives.•
- All the secret treaties concluded by the government of India should be disclosed before the people of India.
- The government of India shall immediately withdraw from all kinds of international patent laws and unequal treaties.
- The foreign debt of all imperialist countries and agencies should be immediately nullified and set aside. Any kind of unequal or military treaties with any imperialist country should be immediately annulled and there should be no such treaties concluded in the future.
- India should unconditionally support the right of Palestinian people to self-determination and strongly support a common secular and democratic state of Palestine for Muslims, Jews and Christians and all other communities on the international forums and till such a state comes into existence, India should fully boycott the apartheid and settler colonial state of Israel in all political, economic and cultural matters.
- India should immediately withdraw from all treaties of WTO and free trade.
- India should immediately give up the membership of the Commonwealth.
The above mentioned program is being presented at the country level by the ‘Revolutionary Workers’ Party of India’. These encompass political, economic, and social issues on which the RWPI candidates will struggle inside the parliament, should they be elected. This will force all other parties of the capitalist class to take a stance on the aforementioned issues, thereby exposing their class character to the public. Simultaneously, this will not only expose the political parties of the exploiters and oppressors but also demonstrate before the broader working masses the fact that economic and social security, and democratic rights in their true sense can never be obtained within the confines of the existing oppressive-exploitative system. To achieve these objectives, we will have to establish a new socialist system and the rule of workers through a revolutionary transformation wherein production, governance, and social structure will be collectively owned by the producing classes and the right to take decisions will be really in their hands.
In addition to this central program, RWPI will also present its local programs in all the six Lok Sabha constituencies where RWPI candidates are contesting elections. This program will clarify the tasks RWPI candidates will undertake in their respective areas upon victory. It will outline both immediate and long-term objectives.
We urge the common working masses to support RWPI candidates in every possible manner, extend all possible held and co-operation and vote for them in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. RWPI is your own revolutionary party, funded and sustained by resources sourced from amongst you and has been built and sustained by you. Let us build an independent political position of the working class and common working masses in these elections. Let us not align ourselves with parties of the exploiting-oppressive rich class but stand firmly with our own revolutionary party. While the rich support their parties, we must stand united with ours. Only then can we achieve our immediate and long-term goals, effectively advocate and fight for our political, economic, and social interests, and emerge victorious.
Long Live the Revolution!
Death to Capitalism-Imperialism!
Working masses have determined,
victory to RWPI on our mind!
