Arun Kumar Mishra
THE grand culmination of the successful Voter Adhikar Yatra in Patna, attended by most opposition leaders of the INDIA Alliance, gave a significant boost to the ongoing movement to protect the democratic and secular character of the Indian republic that is under constant threat from the RSS-backed Modi regime. Bihar has once again become the centre of resistance against neo-fascistic attacks on democratic rights, the disenfranchisement of eligible voters, and the communal polarisation of the masses.
M A Baby, general secretary of CPI(M); Annie Raja of CPI; Deepankar Bhattacharya of CPI(ML); along with opposition leaders in Parliament including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Congress President Kharge, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, declared in unison that Modi and his cohorts will not be allowed to steal votes. The massive participation of ordinary people in the 1,300 km-long yatra even prompted the Supreme Court to take cognisance of the brewing public anger in Bihar and issue an order to treat Aadhaar cards as legal documents for inclusion in electoral rolls.
But what is the ground reality? Even after the Supreme Court’s order, BLOs are still refusing to accept Aadhaar cards as valid documents. The responsibility of Mahagathbandhan workers has increased manifold. They must ensure that eligible voters in every booth are included in the voters’ list and that fake names, allegedly added in connivance with the BJP, are removed.
It must be acknowledged that the RSS and BJP are highly active in booth-level management. The Mahagathbandhan constituents must outmanoeuvre them in this “winning the booth, winning the election” strategy. The slogan “Vote Chor – Gaddi Chhod”, which has become a rallying cry at the grassroots level, must be harnessed to defeat the BJP-JD(U) combine in the upcoming election, now looming on the horizon.
Are the Mahagathbandhan constituents prepared to deliver a final blow to the faltering BJP-JD(U) alliance in Bihar? There is a degree of complacency in finalising seat-sharing agreements among the constituents. Following the yatra and sensing the mood of the people, disturbing reports have emerged about inflated seat claims by major parties.
As the largest party in the Mahagathbandhan bloc, the RJD must accommodate the reasonable claims of its allies, while other constituent parties should facilitate a negotiated settlement, united in their resolve to defeat the anti-people, corrupt, RSS-backed BJP-JD(U) government.
The situation within the BJP-JD(U) camp is even more complex. Parties led by Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi are reportedly pressing for exaggerated claims, seeking their “pound of flesh.” Whether the top leaders of the BJP and JD(U) will yield to these pressures remains uncertain.
The coming fifteen days will be crucial for both formations, locked in a fierce battle over two competing visions of India. The defeat of the BJP-JD(U) in Bihar could mark a new phase in the struggle to safeguard the constitutional framework and ensure that the Hindutva project of the BJP-RSS is defeated.
Meanwhile, the BJP-JD(U) government is rolling out daily sops for different sections of society. The old-age pension has been increased from Rs 400 to Rs 1,100, and the honorarium for scheme workers has been raised. Women in the Jeevika network have been promised Rs 10,000 as a first installment, followed – after evaluation – by Rs 2 lakh to strengthen their businesses. The government is also promoting a promise to employ 1 crore youths over the next five years. Each visit by the prime minister is accompanied by announcements of thousands of crores in investments for new and ongoing projects.
Whether these election-eve sops will benefit the BJP-JD(U) is uncertain. Nitish Kumar had once admonished Tejashwi Yadav that the government had no money for freebies and would never provide free electricity to consumers. Yet now, the same government has announced 125 units of free electricity for every consumer. The wooing of voters has clearly begun, and the BJP-JD(U) combine is leaving no stone unturned to secure support.
The 20-year BJP-Nitish rule has largely ignored the basic needs of 80 per cent of Bihar’s population. The state continues to rank at the bottom of social indices: 31 per cent of children are malnourished and stunted, while large-scale migration of unemployed youths to other states and abroad highlights the severity of unemployment. The privatisation of education and health services has further burdened the common people. Contractors, land mafias, builders, moneylenders, and embezzlers of rural development funds operate in collusion with the ruling dispensation, sustaining one of the most corrupt bureaucratic systems in the country.
The CAG report presented in the last assembly session indicted government departments for failing to account for Rs 70,000 crore spent on various schemes, suggesting massive misappropriation in a state as poor as Bihar. Following these revelations, repeated claims of “zero tolerance for corruption and crime” by the Nitish government have become a mockery.
Over the last 20 years of NDA rule, the Bihar government has ruthlessly suppressed protests by various sections of working-class people – youths, women workers, slum dwellers, and homeless citizens fighting for their homes or against evictions. Water cannons and batons are frequently used against those agitating for their rights. Democratic space is shrinking daily.
However, the palpable anger among the deprived 80 per cent of the population and their readiness to oust the current government could materialise if the Mahagathbandhan coordinates its efforts effectively.
