ON the slogan of people’s unity and people’s rights the entire Patna city was in the movement.

The preparation for the success of this movement was done since long. After the state convention, in a majority of the districts, joint conventions were organised in which mass organisations participated. A 30 point demand charter was prepared which also contained some of the national demands.

Movements in the country have been led on these demands and now the results can also be seen. Today the resentment against Modi is coming to the fore and if this is organized properly then this can lead into a bigger mobilization.

On the intervening night of May 22 itself, kisans, agricultural workers, women, young people, students, dalits and minorities jathas started converging at Patna. They were carrying banners, placards with slogans representing their mass organisations.

Gandhi Maidan wore a colorful look since the morning of May 23 with creative posters and banners. The red colour was most common and vibrant. All the mass organisations were carrying their respective flags and banners.

At 12 noon, a public meeting began at Kargil Chowk in Patna. The public meeting was presided by Lalan Chaudhari, Janki Paswan, Saroj Chaubey, Pramod Kumar and Dinesh Kumar. The stage was coordinated by Ganesh Shankar Singh, Dhirender Jha, Ashok Singh, Suryakar Jitender, Nripen Krishan Mahto and others.

The speakers at the gathering included CITU leader Arun Kumar Mishra, Vinod Jha (general secretary of state kisan sabha – Jamal Road), Geeta Sagar, general secretary of AIDWA, Nagendra Nath Ojha former MP and general secretary of Agricultural Workers Union, Krishan Dev Sah from AIAWU and many others.  All the speakers condemned the killing of 11 people in the anti-Sterlite movement in Tamil Nadu and paid their homage to those who died in this agitation.

The speakers spoke on the following issues: four years of Modi government and its attack on kisans, youth, the issue of black money and the mere jumlabaaazi. The spread of communalism under the present government and innocent people being lynched by irate mobs was widely highlighted. Attack on dalits, women and spread of obscurantism was also highlighted. The attack on democratic, secular and federal structure of the constitution was also raised. The movements of peasants of Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and the struggles of JNU, University of Hyderabad and resistance against the attacks on dalits, were detailed in the speeches.

People’s unity- people’s rights campaign is raising a new consciousness amongst the masses. The speakers warned the Modi government that more people will join this campaign which will start the beginning of the end of the government and the neo-liberal policies.

After the public meeting, a protest march was taken out in the city from Gandhi Maidan, which culminated at Patna railway station.

The participation of the common people in the people’s unity campaign shows that the ground is fertile for big movements in Bihar. The organisers had planned the campaign well and a large number of people attended from different sections of the society, especially the downtrodden. According to an estimate, near 30 thousand poor kisans, agricultural workers, women, students, youth, workers from the informal sector participated in this movement. The slogans, the confidence of the people in this movement has given a big message to the Nitish Kumar government in the state.

The movement was widely covered with photographs in Hindi newspapers like Hindustan, Dainik Savera and in the social media.