Prakash Karat releases book on Karl Marx in Orissa

The Oriya translated book  of ‘Das capital’  by Karl Marx has been released by CPIM General Secretary  Prakash Karat at Jayaden Bhawan in Bhuwaneswar on 17th August 2010. The book contained 1293 pages. The oriya translated book has been published by Lokasikhya Pratisthan after 143 years. The book has been translated by Lambodar Naik.

Communist Party of India(Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat expressed concern over the open loot of minerals in the country. The Centre's faulty mining policy was helping companies accumulate huge capital. Citing the case of an Andhra Pradesh-based company which had since announced plans to establish a steel plant, Mr. Karat said growth of capitalism through mindless exploitation of the mineral wealth had been rampant during the past six decades.

The CPI(M) leader was releasing the Oriya translation of Karl Marx's Das Kapital Volume-I at a function organised by the Lokshikshya Pratisthan here. Karl Marx had written about the exploitation of mineral resources and growth of capitalism way back in 1867. The book had given a new direction to the labour movement across the world, Mr. Karat said. 

He thanked Lambodar Nayak, who translated Das Kapital into Oriya. He expressed satisfaction that the Oriya translation of the second volume of the three-part book was already in progress.

Economist Prabhat Patnaik said the growth of capitalism resulted in an increase in the number of the poor and in inequality, while a few were accumulating wealth by the day.

CPI(M) Orissa secretary Janardan Pati and senior party leader and former MP Sivaji Patnaik spoke.

Left Parties memorandum to the EC

We are constrained to bring to your notice on behalf of the four Left parties – CPI(M), CPI, AIFB and RSP – the very disturbing attempts in West Bengal in the run-up to the process of Summary Revision of Electoral Rolls (SRER). While forwarding the memorandum addressed to you on behalf of the Left Front Committee, West Bengal, we would like to draw your focused attention on specific facts which will bring out the humongous magnitude of these attempts which unless defeated will lead to large-scale falsification of the electoral rolls and distort the ensuing Assembly elections as a whole.

In this context, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that we had already met you on August 3, 2010 to initially acquaint you with the problem. Certain major facts have now come to our notice which further reinforces our apprehension.

The total number of Form-6 applications for addition of new names to be included in the draft electoral rolls as part of the SRER is given to be 56,19,057 (Annexure – I). The districtwise break-up of the total number of Form-6 applications shows the unusually inflated total number of applications. This is available in Annexure – II for your ready reference and perusal.

That the number of Form-6 application is unusually high can be made out from Annexure-III. The following table will give a complete picture.

Summary of last three revisions 2006 2007 2008 2009

a) No of electors in Draft Rolls 4,80,95,009 4,78,39,290 5,04,11,682 5,16,12,655

b) Total Additions 25,80,001 20,75,343 14,00,601 13,81,575

c) Total Deletions 28,35,726 11,98,568 2,00,719 6,31,555

d) Net Addition -2,55,725 8,76,775 11,99,882 7,50,020

e) Percentage of Net Addition -0.5 1.83 2.38 1.45

Roughly 56 lakh proposed additions over the total number of electors amounting to 5,24,21,616 works out to a more than 10 per cent increase. Given the fact that the net addition in the preceding four years – 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 – are -0.5 per cent, 1.83 per cent, 2.38 per cent and 1.45 per cent respectively, clearly show abnormality of an unusual magnitude.

Together with this, the Left Front memorandum will show that there are gross attempts to bypass the well-established ECI stipulations for additions of names. The submission of affidavits, patently false methods of certification like school certificates, birth certificates from health centres etc instead of standard procedures indicate an organized effort to falsify the rolls. To be fair, we must also bring out that the Chief Electoral Officer has given a firm commitment in an all-party meeting on August 5, 2010 – “submission of bulk applications as well as affidavits and other documents inconsistent with the norms and rules of the Election Commission shall not be accepted or rejected if received anywhere, prior to enquiry.”

We have been given to understand that the commitment so given is not being strictly implemented. There have been instances of questionable role of certain observers to bring pressure on the block level election officials to turn a blind eye to these obnoxious attempts and legitimize the applications without due consideration as per the directions of the Election Commission.

The magnitude of the problem and the attempted deceit like filing of affidavits which is born – not out of ignorance – but to sidestep the due and impeccable procedures cannot be defeated without your urgent intervention.

We, therefore, forward the Left Front memorandum and the voluminous Annexures to substantiate the contentions contained therein.

We sincerely expect that with the active intervention of the EC, the sanctity and the integrity of the election process in West Bengal will be safeguarded and this will add up to the otherwise fine record of your achievements of the past.