On National and International Situation

manner. We also call for special urgent measures to address the issue of growing regional disparity and promote employment-generating agricultural and industrial development in backward states and regions.

28. With corruption crossing all limits, the slogan of a corruption-free order has emerged as a popular battle-cry. The agitation for a Jan Lokpal under the leadership of Anna Hazare acquired widespread support in 2011. The movement eventually branched in two different directions with a section of Team Anna forming a new party called Aam Aadmi Party under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal and targeting the crony capitalism being patronised by the Congress and the BJP. This also marks a departure from the established pattern of NGO politics which has remained non-party and stayed away from participating in elections. But both Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal treat corruption primarily as a governance issue and fail to address the policies that have been promoting corruption and corporate plunder. By contrast, we have advanced the call for reversal of pro-corporate policies, protection of agricultural, forest and coastal land, and the rights of gram sabhas, confiscation of black
money and illicit wealth and nationalisation of mineral resources as the central plank for the anti-corruption movement. Also, we insist on treating the anti-corruption campaign as an integral part of the larger democratic movement.

29. Our Party has been playing an energetic role and taking sustained and multi-dimensional initiatives to advance the developing mass movements on different fronts and issues. The mass organisations led by our comrades have been in the forefront of several major struggles. The lone Party MLA in Jharkhand has been commendably using the Assembly and allied platforms to raise the voice of the people and assist a whole range of struggles of the adivasis and other working people. In Bihar we suffered major reverses in the 2010 elections, but undeterred by the electoral reverses, the Party has expanded its political role and initiatives, and has emerged as a dynamic and consistent opposition to the feudal-communal regime of Nitish Kumar.

30. The web of corruption ensnaring the corporate-state nexus has seriously dented the legitimacy of the system. The judiciary has stepped up its role to rescue the system and various reforms are being mooted to save the system from lapsing into deeper crisis. In the name of economic reforms the ruling classes have pushed the country into corporate plunder and deep economic crisis, now in the name of political reforms they are desperate to curtail people’s rights and restrict popular participation. If the ruling classes are allowed to have their way, India will become a victim of corporate-fascist takeover. On the contrary, if we can grasp the depth of the disillusionment that has set in, and seize every opportunity to channelize the people’s anger in a progressive direction, the present juncture may well yield major victories in the battle for justice, democracy and social transformation. The Ninth Congress of the Party must resolve to make the most of the evolving situation and move ahead in bold steps.

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