HELD at Patna, the three-day meeting of the CPI(M) Bihar state committee reviewed the recently concluded three-tier panchayat polls in the state. Final results have come in. The Left, democratic and secular forces have scored major victories right from ward level to zilla parishads, and the communal forces led by BJP-Samata combine have been marginalised.

But a disturbing feature of this whole exercise is that the chairmanships in several zilla parishads have been captured by known criminals, history-sheeters and their kith and kin. Bettiah, Gopalganj, Begusarai, Bhagalpur and Lakhisarai are some of the districts where such elements have occupied the hot seats. Money power and muscle power were in full play on June 10 when the election of zilla parishad chairmen took place. Even Laloo Prasad Yadav had to accept that a large number of criminals have been elected to the panchayat bodies. Despite such aberrations, however, the restoration of grass-roots democracy has generated a lot of enthusiasm and hope among the rural masses.

The most encouraging feature of this democratic process is the participation of womenfolk on a big scale. They were everywhere --- from ward to zilla parishad level. The six districts carved out of old Monghyr district have the distinction of electing five women as zilla parishad chairpersons. In many other districts, women candidates have been elected as vice-chairpersons. The CPI(M) got one chairman post in Supaul district where its candidate Balram Yadav, a state committee member of the party, got elected. He is the lone Left candidate in the entire state to be elected as zilla parishad chairman. Faudari Paswan, a candidate for zilla parishad membership in Bhagalpur, got the highest number of votes and defeated his rival by a huge margin of about 13,000 votes. The party has won 150 mukhiya seats, 139 panchayat samiti seats, 31 zilla parishad seats and more than a dozen block pramukh seats.

Whether these elected bodies will have adequate powers under the central legislation, endorsed by the state government, is a big question that haunts the elected representatives and the progressive forces who want that these elected bodies work in favour of the deprived sections of society. The CPI(M) has raised the question of giving adequate powers to these elected bodies on the line of the West Bengal panchayat system. Alongwith other Left parties, the CPI(M) has given a call to stage dharnas before the district headquarters on June 28 demanding immediate election of corporations, municipalities and notified areas.

The CPI(M) has expressed dismay over the further deterioration of law and order in Bihar. Poll-related violence is still going on. Many newly elected representatives have been gunned down. Loot, extortion, rape have become the order of the day. Traders are the worst victims. The chief minister had to assure them that their life and property would be protected. But things have not changed. The election of many notorious criminals and anti-social elements in panchayat bodies at different levels, aided and abetted by bourgeois-landlord parties, is a bad omen for the law-abiding citizens in the state.

On economic front, the state government is heading towards bankruptcy. Salaries are not being paid to college teachers, government employees, etc. Hospitals, schools, roads are in a complete mess and the government has no fund to meet the bare minimum expenses. The so-called special package for Bihar after the bifurcation is a distant dream, and nobody talks about it now. Unemployment has grown manifold as there is no avenue left. Mass migration of rural poor is going on unabated. The CPI(M) has demanded that an all-party meeting be convened to discuss the financial situation of the state, and that the state should demand special financial aid from the central government to tide over the crisis.

The CPI(M) has decided to highlight all these issues by organising block level demonstrations on June 29. The party will mobilise the masses against the ongoing liberalisation, privatisation, globalisation (LPG) policies being pursued by the central government which is the root cause of the financial crisis faced by state governments. The party has decided to launch movements on the slogan of food for work for the rural poor and to expose the central government’s criminal act of not releasing foodgrains at subsidised rates at the diktat of the WTO.

The CPI(M) state committee has decided to organise a state level convention of elected members of three-tier panchayat bodies in the last week of July. This will be addressed likely by Suryakant Mishra, panchayat minister in West Bengal government.

The CPI(M) will hold its state conference in East Champaran on November 9, 10 and 11 this year. Unit conferences will start in July and district conferences will be over by September.

Earlier, the state committee paid homage to Comrade M Hanumantha Rao, member of the CPI(M) Polit Bureau, a veteran communist and a hero of the Telangana struggle, who passed away on June 18. One minute silence was observed in memory of Triveni Mandal (Darbhanga), Kameshwar Mahta (Begusarai) and others.

Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury addressed the state committee meeting on the recent developments in the world and national arenas. He observed how resistance against the economic and political dominance of imperialism is growing day by day. He emphasised the need to mobilise the masses against the present BJP-led central government’s LPG policies as well as its communal and divisive game. He particularly underlined the growing unity of the working class and its call for nationwide strikes and other actions.

Yechury later addressed a well-attended press conference where he emphatically said a third alternative is the need of the hour. He said Laloo Prasad is presently not with the Lok Morcha (People’s Front) because he is dependent on the Congress. He did concede that the present configuration in parliament is not in favour of a third alternative, yet he said that the third alternative is aimed at altering the configuration in future. He specially mentioned the ensuing election in UP which would create a favourable situation for the growth of the third alternative.