Ouster of BJP from Power in Bihar a Positive Development for the Entire Country

Addressing a press conference in Patna on 13 August, CPIML General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said that the ouster of the BJP from power in Bihar is a positive event for the entire country. The formation of a non-BJP government in Bihar is a step in the right direction to rid the country of the BJP's politics of conspiracy and disaster and generates fresh hope in forces fighting against attacks on the Constitution and democracy.

CPIML will not join the Nitish cabinet but will support the government. “We hope that the new government will move forward with a positive attitude against the direction of repression taken under BJP rule against civil society and just movements. Our party will play an important role in building a meaningful dialogue between civil society and the government. The state government should take effective administrative and legislative steps against the BJP's conspiracy to turn Bihar into a laboratory for fanaticism and riots”.

The CPIML has demanded from the new government that:

• The APMC Act should be reinstated in the interest of Bihar’s farmers.
• The BJP has made Universities in the state the hub of looting and scams. The new government should make an effective work-plan for reform and change in the education system and limit the role of the Vice Chancellor. The campaign for Central University status for Patna University needs to be intensified.
• The recommendations of the Land Reform and Education Commissions should be implemented. Immediate and concrete steps need to be taken to allot land to the landless poor, guarantee of registration and all agrarian development facilities to sharecroppers, construction of the Kadvan reservoir and repair of the Son and other canal systems.
• All vacant posts should be filled; the promise of 19 lakh jobs should be fulfilled.
• A respectable monthly honorarium should be guaranteed to ASHA facilitators, Rasoiyas, Anganwadi workers and all other scheme workers in Bihar.
• The people of Bihar are feeling the need for reconstitution without delay of the Commissions for minorities, women, SC/ST and human rights.
• Action should be taken against the liquor mafia and people in jail under the prohibition law should be released and rehabilitated. Cases slapped on protesters against Agnipath, NTPC and political-social activists including movements for employment should be withdrawn.
• Bulldozer Raj must end. A new housing policy should be made based on a new survey.
• The new government should guarantee that not even a single home will be demolished in the name of Smart City without first making alternative arrangements.

Present at the press conference were CPIML State Secretary Kunal, Politburo members Dhirendra Jha, Rajaram Singh, legislative group leader Mahboob Alam, deputy leader Satyadev Ram, Meena Tiwari, KD Yadav, Shashi Yadav and Arun Singh.

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Delegation Led by Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya Meets Chief Minister Nitish Kumar

A CPIML delegation led by General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya comprising State Secretary Kunal, Politburo member Dhirendra Jha, Rajaram Singh, KD Yadav, leader of legislative group Mahboob Alam and deputy leader Satyadev Ram, Meena Tiwari and Shashi Yadav met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on 13 August 2022. Comrade Dipankar congratulated Nitish Kumar on the formation of a non-BJP government in Bihar. He also said that we will remain outside the Cabinet but give the government full cooperation. The change in Bihar has given relief to forces fighting against attacks on the Constitution and democracy.

On this occasion the delegation also submitted some suggestions to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, prominent among which is the constitution of a coordination committee from among the Mahagathbandhan parties for the formulation of a common minimum program and its implementation.
Next day, CPIML MLAs including Mahboob Alam, Satyadev Ram, Rambali Singh Yadav, Sandeep Saurabh, Gopal Ravidas and Ajit Kushwaha paid a courtesy call on Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on 14 August 2022.

Mahboob Alam said we hope that the time has now come to fulfill the promises on issues on which the Mahagathbandhan fought the Assembly election in 2020. We will give full support to the new government against the BJP.

Suggestions given by the CPIML to the new government:

The CPIML delegation handed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar a memorandum which reads as follows:

“At a time when the BJP is running a nationwide drive to escalate the politics of hate, violence, lies and communal polarization, inflict a single party system on the country, impose an undeclared Emergency and establish Bulldozer Raj in Bihar on the lines of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, its ouster from power in Bihar is a necessary and very positive event not only for Bihar but for the whole country. This has generated a new hope for forces fighting against the BJP's relentless attacks on the Constitution and democracy. This change can definitely provide a new direction for politics across the country. Not only we but the whole of Bihar expects that the new government formed by you will take administrative and legislative steps to effectively curb the actions and conspiracies of the BJP to turn Bihar into a laboratory for frenzied fanaticism and riot-mongering and identify and act against such organizations and persons so that an atmosphere of communal harmony is maintained in the state. There are many examples of the BJP misusing power to try and saffronize government institutions, the removal of the word 'Bihar' written in Urdu on the newly built state symbol in the Vidhan Sabha being a case in point. It is necessary to roll back all such steps so that Constitutional values are maintained in the state and our tradition of composite culture and shared heritage is carried forward strongly.

“During the previous government there were large scale evictions of the poor, whether in the name of Smart City or government schemes like Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali. Homes of common people settled for long on the land were demolished. The new government should stop such actions immediately. We want the government to take initiatives to form a new housing policy within a time limit based on a comprehensive survey of people settled on land, to ensure guarantee of housing for all the poor. The new government should also guarantee that not a single home will be demolished in the name of Smart City without prior arrangements for alternative housing. During the Bihar Assembly election 2020, jobs were an important part of the Mahagathbandhan manifesto. We hope that the new government will take prompt steps to fill all vacant posts. Appointments for all candidates who have cleared TET and STET and fulfillment of the promise of 19 lakh jobs should be among the priorities of the new government.

“The need is to correct without delay those steps of the previous NDA government that have shown deep ill-effects on Bihar. The scrapping of the APMC Act has consistently worsened the condition of farmers in the state. There is no guarantee of government procurement and neither do the crops fetch a proper price, resulting in further worsening of the agrarian system which is, even today, the sole means of livelihood for a large part of Bihar's population. The government should reconsider this matter and our opinion is that the APMC Act should be reinstated.

“When you first came to power in 2005 you had constituted commissions for land reform and education for pro-people development of Bihar, but due to pressure from the BJP the work that should have been done still remains undone. Now the time has come for the government to act on the recommendations of both these Commissions. Immediate and concrete steps need to be taken to allot land to the landless poor, guarantee of registration and all agrarian development facilities to sharecroppers, construction of the Kadvan reservoir and repair of the Son and other nahar-payan (canal) systems.

“The education system in Bihar is going through a period of great decline. Anarchy in education is at its peak. Privatization has taken education out of reach of common people. Through the Governor the BJP has made universities a hub of looting and scams. The new government should make an effective work-plan for reform and change in the education system and limit the role of the Vice Chancellor. The movement for Central University status for Patna University needs to be intensified.

“There was a time when the whole of Bihar was troubled by the liquor problem but prohibition could not solve the problem. Liquor could not be stopped, but poisonous liquor has so far taken hundreds of lives. A large number of poor common people have been jailed under this law. Our understanding is that nothing can be achieved unless action is taken against the liquor mafia. It is necessary to free the persons jailed under this law and rehabilitate them.

“A respectable monthly honorarium should be guaranteed for ASHA facilitators, Rasoiyas, Anganwadi workers and all other scheme workers in Bihar. All trade union laws have been scrapped and the 4 labour codes have been implemented. It is very wrong to lengthen workers' hours of work from 8 to 12 during the Covid period. These measures need to be rolled back. Many non-BJP ruled states are giving 300 units of electricity free of cost. The people of Bihar are troubled by high electricity bills. In this period of inflation all the needy should be given 200 units of free electricity to give some relief to the poor. A resolution should also be brought against the GST imposed on food items.

“The people of Bihar are feeling the need for the reconstitution, without delay, of the Commissions for minorities, women, SC/ST and human rights. The BJP model of crushing and jailing voices of dissent is being inflicted across the country. Human rights activists and journalists are thrown into jail for doing their duty. Political-social activists were targeted many times in Bihar also during the previous NDA government. Cases slapped on protesters against Agnipath, NTPC and political-social activists including movements for employment should be withdrawn. Many political activists jailed under TADA in Arwal District are still languishing in jail despite having completed their sentences. We demand the immediate release of TADA prisoners Dr Jagdish Yadav, Madhav Chaudhury, Arvind Chaudhury, Churaman Bhagat, Shyam Chaudhury, Laxman Sao and Ajit Kumar.

“We would like a Common Minimum Program to be formulated for the pro-people development of Bihar and a coordination committee comprising all Mahagathbandhan parties constituted for its effective implementation.

“We hope that the new government will move forward with a positive attitude against the direction of repression taken under BJP rule against civil society and just movements. Our party will play an important role in building a meaningful dialogue between civil society and the government. We have full confidence that you will seriously consider the above issues raised by us and take adequate steps. Our party will extend all help to the newly formed government. Despite our not joining the Cabinet, the government will have our full support for all pro-people measures. We have every confidence that in the days to come we shall succeed in freeing the country from the BJP's conspiracies and disasters.”

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