ELECTION bugle has been sounded in Bihar. Each and every party worth the name has started preparing its political strategy to face the coming assembly elections by posing itself  as a savior of a particular caste as caste mobilisation plays a crucial role in Bihar politics due to the structurally entrenched feudal system dominating the day-to-day life of common people of Bihar.

With the coming together of the RJD & JD(U) the caste mobilisation has got further impetus. Frantic efforts are on by the BJP combine on the one hand and the RJD, JD(U)combine on the other to win over as many caste leaders  as possible, to their side. Likes of Jeetan Ram Manjhi & Pappu Yadav are much in demand and they are trying to get their pound of flesh by making themselves relevant in the eyes of the BJP combine as they have burnt their bridges with the RJD, JD(U).

The waning magic of Narendra Modi which got reflected in the total rout in Delhi assembly elections, has made the BJP nervous and it is making an all-out effort to woo OBC leaders in its favour by organising caste-wise meetings and portraying all the historical heroes as caste leaders. Even Emperor Ashoka who embraced Buddhism which was totally against brahmanical caste system , has been declared Kushwaha, a middle peasant caste of Bihar. Upendra Kushwaha, the prime organiser of this meeting is a central minister in the BJP cabinet who was earlier with JD(U).

Recently, the BJP tried to foment communal trouble at Rajgir, a picturesque town and tourist spot, famous for Jain and Buddhist temples and hot springs, on a trivial issue of organising a fair on a disputed land. In the coming months, such dirty tricks will be played in Bihar for communal mobilisation.

Caste mobilisation by the BJP has resulted in internal rift as the high caste leaders of the party see it as a move to sideline them in the race for chief ministerial candidate. Sushil Modi is in no mood to keep quiet on the issue of chief ministerial candidate. He did not mince words  when the central observer of the party, Anant Kumar declared that Narendra Modi will be the campaign face in Bihar elections. Sushil Modi retorted, Bihar elections will not be fought in the name of the PM.

Charges and counter-charges are flying thick and fast, bereft of any relevance for the common people of Bihar. Sometimes the charges are aimed at hitting below the belt and make these people a laughing stock before the people.

These parties have no concrete critique of the policies pursued either by the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar or Narendra Modi government at the centre because they pursue the same neo-liberal economic policies. So what is in store for the common people in the coming elections in Bihar?

After the one year rule of the BJP at the centre, the people who had voted overwhelmingly in its favour, are now getting disenchanted. They don’t see any change in their day-to-day life. The much touted “Achche Din” has turned in to “Burey Din” for the vast sections of marginalised people who are at the receiving end during the entire period since the neo-liberal policies are being pursued. Bihar being a backward state, is the worst victim of this development trajectory as can be seen in the recent suicides by the peasants  and the systemic crisis of agricultural sector which is the  backbone of Bihar economy. Across the board slashing of allotment for the social sectors to the tune of Rs 1,75,000 crore by the centre will  adversely affect the backward state like Bihar. Health, education, ICDS, food security, irrigation, agriculture , panchayati raj, Scheduled castes and tribes have been targeted by the central government to meet its fiscal deficit. The 14th Finance Commission has further snatched away around Rs 10,000 crore per year from Bihar. These are the issues that need immediate attention of the political parties who want to serve the people of Bihar. Instead we are watching mounds of mudslinging day-in and day-out among the various landlord bourgeois formations on trivial issues.

During the eight year rule of the BJP-JD(U) combine, Bihar got liberal financial help in different heads and the so-called GDP growth of Bihar is directly linked to this help. The boom in construction and real estate business along with expenditure through different state and central sponsored projects fuelled the Bihar economy in the initial period of the NDA rule, but it petered out as the ruling parties representing the old feudal  forces and the neo-rich,  who together dominate the vast hinterland of Bihar, did not restructure the rural economy to sustain this growth.

By providing 50 percent reservation to women and OBC’s and local bodies, Nitish Kumar did try to empower these vulnerable sections of the society. He also distributed cycles and school dress, first among the girl students and later on among the school going boys from poor families, which was widely appreciated. But when Nitish Kumar was criticised for liberal distribution of licences for opening liquor shops in every nook and corner of Bihar,  he emphatically  answered that we are providing cycles and school dress to the girls  and boys by generating revenue from these liquor shops. By now everybody knows how Nitish Kumar failed to implement D Bandyopadhyay Commission report regarding land reforms. He also failed to introduce a common education system. The successive governments in Bihar have singularly failed to carry out land reforms as the feudal forces have always been able to scuttle the efforts  either covertly or overtly .

Everybody knows that Bihar was the first state to enact Land Reform Act in 1950. Later on in the 70’s, during the height of land movement led by the two communist parties, some radical provisions regarding rights of share croppers, ceiling of the land ownership were introduced but never implemented. Late eighties and nineties were the bloodiest periods when large scale massacres took place in Bihar. From 1993 onwards, the CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML) had decided to launch land liberation movement in their respective areas of influence. Under the leadership of the CPI(M), 40,000 acres of land were distributed among the landless dalits, tribals and the minorities. Around hundred leaders and cadres of peasant movement associated with the CPI(M) had to sacrifice their lives in the movement spread over the large swaths of north Bihar. Our tallest leaders, Comrades Ajeet Sarkar and Ramnath Mohto were done to death by murderer  gangs operating in different parts protecting the interest of the landed gentry  and the neo-rich.  

After the mandal agitation, the rise of socialist leaders in  a new incarnation as the champions of social justice, has definitely brought about a big change in the politics of Bihar. The upper caste dominance has become a thing of the past, but they still pull the strings from behind, by forging alliances with the neo-rich and the middle castes, and piggy back political formations which suit them at a particular time.

In class terms, the social justice plank which had some democratic content during the initial period has exhausted its potentiality now and has completely merged itself with the feudal neo-rich nexus that dominates Bihar politics. We have the recent evidence of coming together of these forces in blocking the implementation of even the diluted form of land reform recommendations of the D Bandyopadhyay commission. We have also seen how the accused of the massacres  committed during eighties and nineties were acquitted in most of the cases which had shocked the conscience of the entire nation. Nitish Kumar government remained a mute spectator and covertly sided with the feudal forces while the BJP extolled the virtue of Ranveer Sena, a dreaded feudal outfit responsible for most of the massacres in the then middle Bihar. The shoddy implementation  and large scale corruption in pro-poor schemes has given birth to politician -bureaucrat- contractor- middlemen nexus,  that has benefited the  most under the present and past dispensation .

Nitish Kumar in his opportunism to seek office and Lalu Prasad taking everything granted in his favour, have paved the way for the BJP to spread its reach among the rural masses which was earlier confined to the urban centres. Now it is a force to reckon with and poses a serious danger to the otherwise secular polity of the state.

The question is how to fight this menace? The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is of the firm opinion that communalism and neo-liberalism cannot be fought separately.

The long association with the so-called secular parties has eroded the bases of the communist parties in general and our political tactical line pursued over the period could not check the advance of the BJP in the state. The ruling regional parties of Bihar are the main enemies of the poor and the oppressed masses of the state. Their policies serve the vested interests and they protect all the musclemen and hooligans masquerading as politicians. If you fight for the proper implementation of pro-poor schemes whether it is old age pension, Indira Aawas Scheme, BPL related schemes, food security,  you come into direct conflict with the bureaucrat- politician-contractor-nexus  and threatened with dire consequences, even inviting death.

So, when in your day-to-day activity, you are fighting against the ruling party, how can you side with them in the election time? If you do that, you lose your credibility in the eyes of the common people. This is what has happened in Bihar.

Now the party has decided to make a complete break from the past practices and will fight for strengthening the independent base of the Party, nurture Left unity and unleash class and mass struggles to change the co-relation of class forces and embark on the path of building a Left Democratic Front. This will not prevent it to join hands with those forces who are eager to fight on certain issues confronting the common people.

Left forces will have to bite the bullet and make a fresh start renewing their connection with common masses who are seething with anger and feel betrayed by their political masters whom they trusted .

The agrarian crisis needs immediate intervention. Teachers, contract, casual, daily wage earners, project employees are on war path. They have been treated very badly by the Nitish Kumar and NDA regime. Left parties have come together and have started articulating the issues concerning different sections of the society. Generally, Left parties and their mass organisations are at the forefront in championing the cause of the fighting masses. Recently, the  Left parties  have  decided to take up the problems  faced by the peasants  due to the agrarian crisis and issues pertaining to PDS and other welfare  schemes by organising demonstrations before block offices from June 23-30. They have given a call for Bihar bandh on  July 21 and will continue their campaign and struggles till  September 2 coinciding with the All India General Strike.

Left parties have come together to fight the legislative council election in the month of July. The move has sent a good massage to the Left ranks and sympathisers . They are responding enthusiastically to different programmes launched jointly by the Left parties.

Left is the only alternative in the present scenario and a better future can be realised only by launching class and mass movements. The beginning has been made and we must continue it.