But the BJP and their allies constituting the NDA, have been reelected, as the results declared on May 23, 2019 show, with increased majority. Pundits are trying to make sense of this unexpected outcome. Whatever the explanation, the fact is, now there is a government that we did not want. It was antiworker and is not likely to change that direction. It was pro-corporate and it is not likely to change that direction either.

It is generally believed that the Pulwama terrorist attack and the Balakot air strike by India, shored up the sagging fortunes of the BJP and their allies. Front pages of all the news-papers praised Modi’s oratory by which he could make the alleged threat to National Security the central issue, completely blacking out even the mention of the promises made in 2014 and complete failure of the Modi government to deliver on those promises during the ensuring 5 years.

But when you flip the pages of any of these papers and come to the section on economy, invariably there were reactions from the Corporate World there: Birla, Adani, Ambani, Mutual Fund Honchos and so on. None of them mention anything about the alleged threat to National Security. Rather, they are happy that a stable government will be in place and they expect following from such a stable government: a Push to Labour Law Reforms, Easy Land Acquisition Laws, Lowering of Direct taxes and simplification of laws and Dismantling of Public Sector Including Banks.

We, the Working Class, have to be alert to this reality. When all the shrill talk of “Threat to National Security”, “Ghar Mein Ghus Ke Marenge”, “Ek Kata to Dus Katenge” dies down (it may even be kept up for the next 5 years, or for as long as needed to keep the gullible people in tow) it is the hard economy that will remain and which we will have to face. It is said that one cannot live by perceptions alone.

Narendra Modi says he recognises only two castes in India – one is the Poor and the other is those who want to fight poverty. A very clever camouflage of being pro-corporate! Not that he needs any camouflage – he had declared it in so many words in his last stint in office. The BJP’s slogan manufacturing department has come up with a new slogan: Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas. There are photos of Modi touching his mother’s feet, Advani’s feet, of various statues in the BJP Office and so on. When all this sweet talk and photo ops are over, what will remain is all those issues which were listed in the March 5, 2019 Convention Resolution.

Can we afford to call that resolution not even worth the paper it is printed on? Does it not talk about our real life issues? Can we afford to let go of our Pension demand in the name of “National Security”? Can the kisans not be bothered about the price of their produce in the name of “National Security”? There areother demands of Equal Wages, status of government employees, of Education, Health… and more. The Resolution puts the finger on these burning issues of the working population.

We have to regroup our members to calmly confront the new Modi government with all these issues. We cannot allow them to hide behind the pretext “Give us more time, Congress did nothing for the past 70 years”. The question is not how much time is to be allowed, but what direction the\ government’s policy takes.

Proportional Representation when the unexpected results hit the public psyche, doubts began to be raised about the EVM, about the partisan conduct of the Election Commissioner, the news about BJP goons not allowing people to vote to forcibly putting indelible ink marks on their index fingers so they could not vote and so on. But for the sake of argument, if we assume that we go backto the earlier ballot system and there is no rigging, the main lacuna of the system still remains: this system called “First Past the Post” recognises a contestant as a winner as long as he gets one vote more that his closest rival, no matter how many total votes are polled. The result is contestants getting as low as 10 percent votes are declared winners trashing all the rest of the votes. This system may be called “Winner Takes All”.

As against this unjust system, Pro por tional Representation allows all the voters across the country to vote for the Party of their choice and each party is allotted same percentage of MPs out of the total of 542 (the strength of Lok Sabha) as the percentage of votes it gets throughout the country. The issue is of prime importance and its dimensions have to be explained along with its concept, and needs to be taken to the people at large.(IPA Service)