Overview

• At its 25th Congress in Chandigarh on September 23, the CPI adopted resolutions spanning foreign policy, fiscal policy, disaster relief and healthcare, reaffirming solidarity with Palestine and Cuba and urging India to back Palestine at the UN and extend humanitarian aid.
• The party denounced the GST 2.0 rollout of September 22 as a “jumla,” warning that the removal of the state compensation mechanism risks revenue shortfalls and shifts the burden onto lower- and middle-income households.
• CPI alleged the Centre had “fleeced” Rs 20 lakh crore under GST over eight years and called for a rethink of the new regime to safeguard equity, fiscal stability and federal harmony.
• On Punjab’s floods, CPI called the Centre’s Rs 1,600 crore package an insult, demanded at least Rs 100,000 for every affected family including landless workers and small traders, cited losses above Rs 25,000 crore and blamed irrigation and drainage neglect for aggravating damage.
• The health resolution urged enshrining healthcare as a fundamental right with public spending raised to 3% of GDP by 2027 and then to 6%, prioritising infrastructure, medicines, diagnostics and health personnel.