THE 16th Lok Sabha elections have brought about a sea-change in the political landscape of Bihar and have posed a serious challenge before the Left forces in particular and the secular forces in general.

The break-up in the JD(U)-BJP alliance during the last Lok Sabha elections after 17 long years of togetherness and the decimation of the JD(U) on one hand and the RJD-Congress combine on the other by the BJP and its alliance partners, paved the way for a future re-alignment of political forces in the state. The resurgent BJP along with its new-found allies tried to destabilise the JD(U) government by engineering defections from the JD(U) camp during the Rajya Sabha poll. Pushed to the wall, Nitish Kumar relinquished chief minister’s post and installed Jitan Ram Manjhi, a dalit, as the chief minister. He also sought help from his bête noire Lalu Prasad and the latter willingly helped Nitish Kumar to get JD(U) candidates elected to Rajya Sabha. After staving off the immediate threat, the JD(U) and the RJD have come together and they have also roped in Congress party in the so-called grand alliance to face the BJP and its allies in the coming bye-election for 10 seats on August 21, 2014.

After giving space to the BJP and enjoying the fruits of power for the last one decade, now Nitish Kumar has become the champion of all-in unity against the menace of the BJP. He has failed to realise that it is the anti-people policies of the Congress party with series of mega scams that catapulted the BJP to seize power in Delhi. The entire corporate media dumped the Congress party and made Modi the household name and the reform-incarnate.

The two months story of Modi regime has nothing new to offer to the common men and women of this country. They are still groaning under the burden of growing prices of essential commodities and the enthusiasm generated for the so-called “Achche Din” during the Lok Sabha elections is getting dissipated day by day. The Hindutva brigade has started their nefarious activities in different parts of the country in a well planned manner to spread communal venom and divert the attention of people from the daily bread and butter issues.

The recent budget is an old Congress baggage with added burden for the common man.

Can an alliance with the Congress as a partner, fight the BJP? Though the RJD and the JD(U) have long ago left their social justice plank and are harping on the same so-called development plank where the poor and the marginalised have no place. Barring some popular measures like reservations for OBCs and women in local democratic set-up and distribution of bicycles and some other such measures, nothing concrete has been done to empower the poor peasants, agricultural workers, the vast number of unorganised sector workers, contract and casual workers, scheme workers etc. The Nitish Kumar government has singularly failed to implement food security scheme, MGNREGA and other such schemes meant for the poor and the downtrodden people. Education and health institutions are in shambles.

All the hullaballoo about land reform has been put to rest and the D Bandopadhyay Committee recommendations have been thrown into the dustbin. It was the same with Lalu Prasad who spoke much about land reform but later on succumbed to the pressure of feudal forces.

Patna has become the city of demonstrations and processions. There is no regular recruitment in government offices. Every work is outsourced. You will see contract workers in every office of government and private institutions. Statutory labour laws are violated with impunity. These workers vent their ire by organising processions, demonstrations, sit-ins etc. Spontaneous movements are being organised in different parts of the state by the peasants, agricultural workers and other marginalised sections against their daily sufferings. Civic amenities are a distant dream. Garbage dumps, suffocating pollution, lack of hygienic atmosphere, overflowing sewage, lack of electricity mark the city and town lives of Bihar. The RJD, the JD(U) have also adopted the same development trajectory and are one with the Congress in implementing the imperialist dictated neo-liberal agenda.

In the background of the present political scenario, the coming together of three main Left parties – the CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) – to fight the bye-election on 10 seats and to keep this unity intact and fight unitedly for peoples cause, has sent a strong message to the suffering people of Bihar who are yearning for a real alternative. The Left has a long history of fighting the communal forces and is also in the forefront of fighting the neo-liberal policies of the ruling classes represented by different hues of landlord bourgeois formations. The significance of Left unity lies not only in fighting the bye-election together but putting before the people a different pro-people development trajectory which will usher in more equitable and humane society.

Bihar is one among the few states which has the glorious traditions of militant peasant and working class movements. The coming together of Left will certainly revive the old spirit of changing the society and galvanise the entire Left ranks to face the challenges posed by the rabidly communal right wing forces which are bent upon destroying the idea of India which is the symbol of unity in diversity and is proud of its syncretic culture.