"UPA wins, NDA loses, left finished, resurgence of Congress, end of coalition regimes, third front days are over, end of caste based identity politics, vote for stability, vote for markets…" captions and headlines roar…
As the UPA government prepares to form their new government on the strength of the renewed mandate;
as the electronic media turns away from what was their business for the last three months to a the new one
- IPL cricketainment;
as the election pundits count their cash for the season;
can we – the members of the activist fraternity sit together and reflect on what happened in these general elections?
We know the left has lost much ground;
We also know that the BSP did not gain much;
We know the Trinamool Congress did;
We know Nitish's politics worked and Lalu's did not;
We know Naveen did well after all that and that Amma did not sweep Tamil minds;
But do we know that it is people's resistance movements who played an important role behind several of these surprises?
Of course, we have heard of Singur and Nandigram victories… BUT
Do we know that CPI-M has lost the Pathanamthitta constituency (where the Chengara land movement is going on against the wishes of CPM leaders)?
Do we know that CPI, the party leading the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, has won the elections from Jagatsinghpur?
Do we know that the Forest workers movement in UP has played an important role in the victory of BSP candidates from constituencies like Saharanpur?
And how many more seats and constituencies where our groups have played an active role in defeating anti-people parties and policies??
But what does all this hold for us in the 15th Lok Sabha! Is the renewed mandate going to make UPA more arrogant and hence more pro-corporate and anti-people?
We, from Delhi Solidarity group, take this initiative to invite you for a people's movement specific analysis and reflections on the General Elections 2009. We are inviting the following friends (some are yet to confirm) to share their opinion and perspective on the elections:
Sumit Chakravarty, S.P Shukla, Arundhati Dhuru, Seema Mustafa, Suhas Borkar, Uma Chakravarty, Ashok Choudhury, Yogendra Yadav, Praful Bidwai, Pamela Philipose, Sidharth Varadarajan
However, to make it a more interactive discussion, we hope to give less time for presentations and more time for people's sharing.
VENUE: Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road (Behind Saibaba Mandir)
TIME: 4pm to 7pm
DATE: 22nd May 2009, Friday
We hope you will join us to make this discussion more meaningful and futuristic.
With regards,
Madhuresh, Vijayan and others
On behalf of DSG
Delhi Forum
F-10/12 (GF), Malviya Nagar,
New Delhi INDIA - 110017
Phones: + 91-11-26671556 (Direct),
26680914/883
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