On March 3, Patna’s Gandhi Maidan, a sprawling ground at the centre of the city, spread across 60 acres, bore witness to a historic moment. Braving the cold and unexpected rain, tens of thousands of youth, women, and toiling masses from across the state painted the entire ground in the sea of red and green flags. The slogans of ‘Bihar will fight, dictatorship fall’ and ‘Mahagathbandhan Zindabad’ reverberated across the city centre.
The Mahagathbandhan’s [Grand Alliance] Jan Vishwas Rally saw national leaders of all the constituent political parties, including members of the larger INDIA alliance gathering at the Gandhi Maidan, a ground that has seen several historic political and social assertions, including the JP movement in the 1970s.
Saluting the spirit of resilience and determination of the people at the rally, Com. Dipankar, General Secretary of CPI(ML) said that 50 years ago, a slogan was raised from this Gandhi Maidan, that the future is ours. Today, once again, people are here to raise the clarion call of Save Democracy, Constitution, Country - the future will be ours. The gathering here is a warning to the anti-people governments in Patna and Delhi that it's time to vacate the seat of power. The People of Bihar will fight! The dictatorship will fall!
For the last 10 years, the party [Bharatiya Janata Party] which is destroying the entire India, has in its name Janata [People], but they have nothing to do with people. The only purpose of this party is to hold on to power for their greed. Arrogance of power, is in the veins of the BJP. BJP have bulldozed India's democracy, attacked voices of opposition and dissent and destroyed peoples’ lives, livelihoods, and rights over water, forest and land [Jal-Jungle-Zameen]. The BJP should change its election symbol from lotus to a bulldozer. We are here to warn that this bulldozer rule will soon come to an end. We have come here to show the steadfastness of the people and for freedom from bulldozers.
He added that farmers are being stopped from coming to Delhi with the demand for legal guarantee for MSP [Minimum Support Price] but at the same time this government lays red carpet for corporates like Adani-Ambani. We have seen how the entire government machinery was mobilised for the wedding of Ambani's son, but when farmers want to come to Delhi, then barricades are put up on the road, nails are embedded on the way and barbed wires are laid. Bullets are fired on farmers.
The Modi government says that India will become Vishwaguru [world leader]. But they don't utter a single word in defence of the suffering children of Gaza. On the other hand, the Modi regime is conspiring to endanger the lives of our educated, but unemployed youth by sending them to Israel. The recruitment process has already begun in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and very soon in Bihar also, CM Nitish will implement this conspiracy.
For the first time in our country’s history, we are seeing a party [BJP] putting all its efforts to protect the rapists, to encourage them and to honour them. Be it supporting the rapists of Bilkis Bano or protecting those who oppress women in Manipur, BJP and its leaders are at the forefront.
And that is why, we have come here to give this clarion call that the general elections of 2024 has to be a decisive fight and in this election, if Bihar resolves to give a firm mandate of 40 out of 40 seats to Mahagathbandhan, then for sure, this anti-people Modi government will definitely be wiped out from Delhi.
About the 17 month Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar, which was brought down by the BJP using deceit and fraud, Com. Dipankar said that during the Bihar assembly elections in 2020 when we said that the youth will get permanent jobs, at that time Nitish Kumar [in alliance with BJP] was making fun of this. But when he joined hands with Mahagathbandhan for a while and our government was formed, we got the opportunity, and you saw that not only permanent jobs were given but also a caste census and socio-economic survey was conducted. Furthermore, the entire reservation policy was expanded.
People of Bihar realised that Nitish, who has been in power for almost 20 years, had given the people of Bihar the rhetoric of development and pushed them into dense darkness of poverty. The survey exposed that two-thirds of the people in Bihar, used to survive on an income of less than Rs 10,000.
This sea of red and green flags in unison we see here today is crucial in our battle to save democracy and the constitution. This is the path ahead of us today and to stop this people's assertion, Nitish was shifted to the BJP side.
We have seen the misuse of CBI-ED-Income Tax against opposition parties and leaders, but this time we saw how Bharat Ratna was used for vested political ends and to grab power. After giving Bharat Ratna to Charan Singh and MS Swaminathan, they opened fire on farmers demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations on MSP. They gave Bharat Ratna to Karpoor Thakur, but insulted his legacy. Karpoori ji's legacy of releasing political prisoners, expanding reservation in Bihar and expanding education in the state, was betrayed by this regime by using its power and money to break opposition or buy opposition MLAs. And where BJP was unable to break or buy MLAs, they imprisoned them in fabricated and politically motivated cases, like sending CPIML's popular and young militant MLA Manoj Manzil to jail. Using this conspiracy, the power hungry BJP terminated Manoj’s MLAship and attempted to suppress the voices of the toiling masses in the assembly.
Against this conspiracy, a complete unity is needed. We need to strengthen the struggle. I am sure that today's assertion at Gandhi Maidan, this is not just for Bihar. This is for the entire country.
The BJP is saying that after Nitish's somersault, who had hosted the first meeting of INDIA bloc in Bihar, that nothing is left in this alliance. We are here to tell them that just because some leader left the alliance, or by trying to topple INDIA's government formations or by breaking some MLAs, nothing is going to happen. Because the people are on the ground and fighting. Our Bihar is a fighting state and the people of Bihar will fight, and the dictatorship will be defeated.
We saw that due to rain at night you all faced problems. Despite this and facing all other difficulties, the toiling people from across Bihar have come here raising red and green flags. This red flag is the red flag of Master Jagdish, Comrade Ram Naresh Ram and Comrade Butan Musahar. The steadfast unity of this red flag and the green flag of Karpoori ji, Jayaprakash ji, will usher the change in Bihar and in the entire country.
Com Meena Tiwari, PBM of CPI(ML) and AIPWA National General Secretary addressing the rally highlighted issues of rising unemployment, poverty, and lack of development in Bihar. The Modi government betrayed the youth of our country by giving them jumla of 2 crore jobs. When the youth asked for jobs, Modi gave them advice to sell pakoras.
India’s economy and people’s livelihood are under threat. A large section of people are facing dire hunger. While people of the country are suffering under skyrocketing prices of essential commodities and the loss of wages and jobs, the Modi regime is busy filling the coffers with the corporates like Adani and Ambani.
Under the Modi regime, we are witnessing an escalating violence against women. We have seen how BJP gave complete impunity and patronage to the perpetrators of violence against women. From wrestlers to IIT-BHU and Hathras to Manipur, we have how the BJP is protecting the rapists and sexual harassers.
Com. Rajaram Singh, leader of AIKM and CPI(ML) politburo member, noted that Modi has betrayed every section of the society in its 10-year rule. The Modi government has destroyed every public sector institution for the sake of corporates. They also wanted to make the farmers corporate slaves, but the resistance put forward by the farmers forced this regime to withdraw the three pro-corporate farm laws. We want to declare from this historic Gandhi Maidan that only the government which will stand with the rights of the workers-farmers-youth will be allowed to form a government in Delhi.
“Bihar had always shown the path for the defence of democracy and the constitution. The clarion call and resolve we are taking here today will set the agenda for the upcoming general election, and I am sure this Modi government, who work for their capitalist cronies, will face a decisive defeat,” Com. Rajaram added.
The spirited gathering at Jan Vishwas Maharally at Gandhi Maidan symbolised a turning point, not only for Bihar but for the entire country. The resolve displayed by the people at Gandhi Maidan under the red and green flags served as a testament to the enduring spirit of democracy and the collective power of the people to drive out the communal-corporate fascist forces from power.
