People are Ready and Waiting to Teach a Lesson to the Arrogant Anti-People Nitish Government

CPIML General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya spoke to the cadres of Bihar on 18 July in an online address where he called upon the people of Bihar to unite against the callous and anti-people state government for the ensuing elections. He also asked the Election Commission to guarantee extensive participation of people and equal opportunity to all parties in the election.

He said that nine opposition parties have submitted a joint memorandum to the Election Commission on 17 July 2020. The main points of the memorandum were: in view of the indications given by the Election Commission and the grave Covid19 crisis in Bihar, the participation of people in the forthcoming election will be greatly reduced. The first condition for meaningful and credible elections is extensive people’s participation. By October-November the number of Corona-infected people in Bihar is expected to reach horrific heights. In such a condition, the EC must give everyone the confidence that extensive people’s participation will be ensured.

The Commission has said that in order to prevent Corona infection booths will be constituted with 1000 voters per booth. But this number is not a small one. Our demand is that each booth should have 250 voters so that physical distancing can be truly maintained, and the election should not in itself become a vector for spreading Covid. The EC should reassure the people on this point.

The memorandum demands that the provision for postal ballot for persons above the age of 65 should be scrapped. This will not be correct, and will violate confidentiality of the election. For the moment the EC has suspended this decision.

The indication given for digital campaigning will not be feasible in States like Bihar where the percentage of smartphones and internet is still very low. Parties with rich resources, especially BJP which is least bothered about Covid and people’s problems, have already started campaigning, arranging expensive LED screens. Clearly, such an election will be disadvantageous for the common and honest candidates. He said that the EC must assure that the parties like CPIML that depend on people’s power will be given an equal opportunity in the election. The polling percentage in Bihar is always quite low. Bihar is a State where until 1980, landless, dalit, poor voters could not cast their vote. They have secured this right after great struggle. Digital elections can affect this and convert the entire election into a cruel joke.

The EC has called for views on the demands initiated by us, but they have called for views only from recognized political parties. It is necessary also to get the views of all parties, civil society, and the common people.

Bihar will be the first State to go into election during the time of Covid19, therefore it must be guaranteed that the election will not be reduced to a mere formality. The JDU and BJP

Nitish Ji and Sushil Modi Ji, not in the least bothered about the Covid crisis, are busy with digital campaigning and virtual rallies. Leave alone the common people; even people of means are unable to get treatment in Bihar today. The BJP office and CM’s residence have become Covid-infected. But these people are bothered only about remaining in power and have left the common people to live or die as fate decrees.

BJP-JDU say that Opposition parties are afraid, because they are opposing digital campaigning. We wish to reassure them that they should not remain under a delusion. The people of Bihar want to be rid of this useless government without delay and want elections as soon as possible. Nitish Ji would have been wiped out in the last elections had he remained in the NDA. After winning the elections he betrayed the people of Bihar and went to resume his seat in the lap of the BJP. He betrayed the people’s mandate and democracy. The forthcoming election is an opportunity to teach these traitors a lesson.

The Lockdown has put the entire country in a crisis situation, but Bihar is the worst affected. The government is not bothered about the pain of the migrant workers who reached Bihar after walking fort thousands of miles. The pain of the migrant workers is the pain of the whole of Bihar. These people in power have no answer to this pain, for they are the ones responsible for the pain.

In order to throw a veil over the pain of the people they talk about the Bihar Regiment, but Modi Ji himself has said that no intrusion has taken place; they why was there a clash with China and why were 20 people killed? The BJP-JDU may think that they will avoid the anger of the people in the name of ‘Bihar Regiment’, but that is not going to happen.

Now it seems that an agreement with China has been reached and both armies are withdrawing from each side. But on the whole it has been India’s loss, and the government must answer for this.

An eviction drive is on across Bihar in the name of ‘hariyali’ (greening). Nitish Ji has shown us how the poor can be destroyed even in the name of greening and environment. There is eviction here in Bihar, and the people are being diverted with ‘Kashmir’ and ‘370’. An official from Darbhanga has got a domicile certificate, which is being opposed by the people of Kashmir. The people cannot be misled, and the government will have to answer why there is landlessness on such a large scale in Bihar. Everyone could have got land if the Land Commission recommendations had been implemented, but the Nitish government did not do so. He cannot show ‘land in Kashmir’ and mislead the people of Bihar.

Today the talk is about ‘15 vs. 15’. Lalu Ji’s penultimate years in power had caused a lot of problems to the people. Today in Nitish Kumar’s final years the people of Bihar are witnessing even worse conditions. The people are yearning to get rid of this government.

People have got injustice in the name of justice. Criminals are operating unbridled in Bihar. Killings are taking place consistently. Massacres and rapes are being perpetrated. Out daughters are becoming the victims of injustice. Development has become synonymous with organized corruption, the most recent example being the Sattar-Ghat bridge. The government is shamelessly saying that only the approach-bridge has been washed away. Corruption is rampant everywhere including the Srijan scam. Scheme workers, agrarian and rural workers, farmers, migrant workers, teachers and all sections are struggling against this. All of Nitish Kumar’s ‘jumlas’ like ‘Mahadalit’, ‘Pichhda’ and ‘Vikas’ have failed miserably and the feudal-criminal nexus rules unchecked in Bihar today.

Whenever the elections are held, the people of Bihar are ready and waiting to throw out this arrogant and anti-people government.

There is no health system to speak of in Bihar. The need of the hour is a strong public sector. Our demand is that health services across the country should be government-monitored. Education and health should not be profit-making businesses.

Privatization of the railways has snatched away jobs on a large scale. Snatching away jobs is also an attack on reservation.

9 August 2020 will be observed across the country as Kisan Mukti Diwas to demand loan waivers for farmers; full price for farmers’ produce; withdrawal of anti-farmer ordinances; slashing of diesel price; withdrawal of Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020; 200 days’ work under MNREGA, and other demands.

Over the past 8 years the government has waived 1 lakh 23 thousand crores worth loans of rich and powerful people. Recovery from them amounts to less than 9000 crores. But the government is refusing to waive loans of the poor, farmers, and debts incurred to micro-finance companies by the poor. Small debtors will raise their voice on 13 August 2020 to demand loan waivers.