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Tag: CPI-ML

  • Troubles Mount For INDIA-Bloc In Bihar As CPI, CPI-ML Pushes For More Seats |

    The INDIA-bloc faces challenges with the seat allocation in Bihar as the Communist Party of India (CPI) seeks to contest for three seats, while CPI-ML is claiming eight seats. In a press release, the parties have urged the alliance to announce a revised seat sharing agreement. Earlier, the seat distribution deal suggested that Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) will contest on 28 seats whereas Congress was to be fielded from nine seats, two seats were given to CPI and one to CPI-ML.

    The distribution of Lok Sabha election seats has emerged as a contentious matter for both the NDA and the INDIA alliance factions in Bihar. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is also not pleased with the seat sharing deal. Pashupati Paras is dissatisfied with the BJP leadership due to Chirag Paswan’s effective seat-sharing agreement. Sources acquainted with the matter indicated that should Paras’ negotiations with the BJP falter, the RJD is considering offering him a favourable seat-sharing arrangement.

    The Lok Sabha elections in Bihar are scheduled to occur in seven phases, commencing on April 19. Initially, on April 19, voting will transpire for four seats: Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, and Jamui. Subsequently, on April 26, polling will be conducted for five seats: Kishanganj, Katihar, Prunia, Bhagalpur, and Banka. On May 7, another set of five seats will undergo polling: Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Araria, Madhepura, and Khagaria. May 13 will witness voting for Darbhanga, Ujiarpur, Samastipur, Begusarai, and Munger.  

    On May 20, the electoral process will encompass Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Saran, and Hajipur. May 25 marks the voting day for Valmiki Nagar, Paschim Champaran, Purvi Champaran, Sheohar, Vaishali, Gopalganj, Siwan, and Maharajganj. Finally, June 1 will see Nalanda, Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Arrah, Buxar, Sasaram, Karakat, and Jahanabad going to the polls. The vote counting is scheduled for June 4. 

  • Everyone is talking about opposition unity, wait for some time, it is going to be good: Nitish Kumar

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar on Wednesday met Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) General Secretary Deepankar Bhattacharya in his party office and discussed various issues including the development of Bihar and an urgent need for forging a dynamic and broad-based opposition unity.

    After meeting with CPI(ML) General Secretary, Kumar said, “Seven political parties united in Bihar and we are running the government together and on the other side there is only Bharatiya Janata Party. We had a discussion on how to work for the development of the state with consensus, how to uplift every section of the society and the work has to be done for the welfare of people.”

    “I have met all the people in Delhi and many of them thanked me for coming out from NDA. Everyone wishes that there should be unity in every state and such an atmosphere will be created in the country in the coming days,” the chief minister added.

    CM of Bihar further said that everyone is talking about opposition unity, wait for some time, it is going to be good.

    “Everyone realizes that those who have the power in their hands, they are creating damage everywhere in the country,” he added.

    “CPI(ML) General Secretary Deepankar Bhattacharya and Nitish Kumar also discussed to stop the BJP’s bulldozer raj in the country. Burning issues of Bihar also came up in the discussion” the party said in a Statement.

    CPIML General Secretary told ANI that he raised the urgent need for a united attempt for the release of political prisoners, who are lodged behind bars on fabricated charges.

    “We want that what happened in Bihar, should happen on a national level. In Bihar, BJP was left alone and other parties came together. This Bihar model should be repeated across the nation. Nitish ji is working hard and hard work will bear fruit,” said Bhattacharya.

    He further said that the formation of a non-BJP government in Bihar is a step in the right direction to rid the country of the BJP’s politics of conspiracy and disaster and generates fresh hope in forces fighting against attacks on the Constitution and democracy.

    Two leaders emphasised the need for coordinated efforts to fulfil the needs and aspirations of the people of Bihar and advance the agenda of opposition unity to defend democracy and save India.

    Kumar has been in Delhi since Monday afternoon to work for Opposition unity for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

    Ever since his arrival in Delhi, Bihar CM has met leaders various political parties in the country.

    Nitish Kumar met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

    He also met Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala.

    He also met with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Sharad Yadav in Delhi, who said, “It is necessary that the opposition parties come together. There is no better face (of Opposition) than Nitish Kumar.”

    This came days after Nitish Kumar broke the alliance with the BJP in August and formed the government with RJD in Bihar.

    Earlier Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had also visited Bihar and met Nitish Kumar, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as part of efforts towards opposition unity.

    NEW DELHI: Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar on Wednesday met Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) General Secretary Deepankar Bhattacharya in his party office and discussed various issues including the development of Bihar and an urgent need for forging a dynamic and broad-based opposition unity.

    After meeting with CPI(ML) General Secretary, Kumar said, “Seven political parties united in Bihar and we are running the government together and on the other side there is only Bharatiya Janata Party. We had a discussion on how to work for the development of the state with consensus, how to uplift every section of the society and the work has to be done for the welfare of people.”

    “I have met all the people in Delhi and many of them thanked me for coming out from NDA. Everyone wishes that there should be unity in every state and such an atmosphere will be created in the country in the coming days,” the chief minister added.

    CM of Bihar further said that everyone is talking about opposition unity, wait for some time, it is going to be good.

    “Everyone realizes that those who have the power in their hands, they are creating damage everywhere in the country,” he added.

    “CPI(ML) General Secretary Deepankar Bhattacharya and Nitish Kumar also discussed to stop the BJP’s bulldozer raj in the country. Burning issues of Bihar also came up in the discussion” the party said in a Statement.

    CPIML General Secretary told ANI that he raised the urgent need for a united attempt for the release of political prisoners, who are lodged behind bars on fabricated charges.

    “We want that what happened in Bihar, should happen on a national level. In Bihar, BJP was left alone and other parties came together. This Bihar model should be repeated across the nation. Nitish ji is working hard and hard work will bear fruit,” said Bhattacharya.

    He further said that the formation of a non-BJP government in Bihar is a step in the right direction to rid the country of the BJP’s politics of conspiracy and disaster and generates fresh hope in forces fighting against attacks on the Constitution and democracy.

    Two leaders emphasised the need for coordinated efforts to fulfil the needs and aspirations of the people of Bihar and advance the agenda of opposition unity to defend democracy and save India.

    Kumar has been in Delhi since Monday afternoon to work for Opposition unity for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

    Ever since his arrival in Delhi, Bihar CM has met leaders various political parties in the country.

    Nitish Kumar met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

    He also met Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala.

    He also met with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Sharad Yadav in Delhi, who said, “It is necessary that the opposition parties come together. There is no better face (of Opposition) than Nitish Kumar.”

    This came days after Nitish Kumar broke the alliance with the BJP in August and formed the government with RJD in Bihar.

    Earlier Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had also visited Bihar and met Nitish Kumar, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as part of efforts towards opposition unity.

  • CPI-ML to extend outside support to JD(U)- RJD government in Bihar  

    Express News Service

    PATNA: CPI-ML has demanded that a minimum common programme (MCP) should be chalked out for running the RJD-led grand alliance government in Bihar and also declared that it would extend outside support to the government.

    CPI-ML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said that he met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and put his demand for MCP before him. He said that his party had decided to extend outside support to the government after full deliberations with party leaders in the state executive.

    “Though we are part of the seven-party government in Bihar, we will not take any ministerial berth in it. Bihar CM Nitish has taken a bold step in the larger the interest of the nation, which is highly appreciable,” the CPI-ML leader said.

    Bhattacharya said, “BJP’s bulldozer had suffered major damage in Bihar. Nitish is also responsible for making BJP strong in the state.”

    Sharpening his attack on BJP, the CPI-ML leader said that BJP was firing in Bihar by keeping the gun on the shoulder of Nitish. He also said that Maharashtra’s revenge had been taken in Bihar, adding that the grand alliance of seven parties would be a model for national politics.

    “We expect from the government that it would meet the aspirations of the people,” Bhattacharya remarked.“BJP does not want any opposition government to complete its term. BJP will make such an attempt in Bihar too, adding that it was doing its politics through lies and media,” he added.

    CPI-ML had won 12 seats out of 19 seats it had contested in the last assembly election. Besides CPI-ML, CPI and CPM have two seats each in the Bihar assembly.

    Nitish came out of the NDA alliance and formed the government with the RJD-led Grand Alliance or Mahagathbandhan. Nitish and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav took oath as Chief Minister and deputy chief minister last week. The cabinet expansion is likely to take place on August 16. Tejashwi, who returned from New Delhi on Saturday evening, met Nitish at his residence and discussed the issues related to cabinet expansion.

    Tejashwi had earlier met Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi before holding a meeting with his father and RJD national president Lalu Prasad.

    PATNA: CPI-ML has demanded that a minimum common programme (MCP) should be chalked out for running the RJD-led grand alliance government in Bihar and also declared that it would extend outside support to the government.

    CPI-ML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said that he met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and put his demand for MCP before him. He said that his party had decided to extend outside support to the government after full deliberations with party leaders in the state executive.

    “Though we are part of the seven-party government in Bihar, we will not take any ministerial berth in it. Bihar CM Nitish has taken a bold step in the larger the interest of the nation, which is highly appreciable,” the CPI-ML leader said.

    Bhattacharya said, “BJP’s bulldozer had suffered major damage in Bihar. Nitish is also responsible for making BJP strong in the state.”

    Sharpening his attack on BJP, the CPI-ML leader said that BJP was firing in Bihar by keeping the gun on the shoulder of Nitish. He also said that Maharashtra’s revenge had been taken in Bihar, adding that the grand alliance of seven parties would be a model for national politics.

    “We expect from the government that it would meet the aspirations of the people,” Bhattacharya remarked.
    “BJP does not want any opposition government to complete its term. BJP will make such an attempt in Bihar too, adding that it was doing its politics through lies and media,” he added.

    CPI-ML had won 12 seats out of 19 seats it had contested in the last assembly election. Besides CPI-ML, CPI and CPM have two seats each in the Bihar assembly.

    Nitish came out of the NDA alliance and formed the government with the RJD-led Grand Alliance or Mahagathbandhan. Nitish and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav took oath as Chief Minister and deputy chief minister last week. The cabinet expansion is likely to take place on August 16. Tejashwi, who returned from New Delhi on Saturday evening, met Nitish at his residence and discussed the issues related to cabinet expansion.

    Tejashwi had earlier met Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi before holding a meeting with his father and RJD national president Lalu Prasad.

  • CPI-ML survey finds over 6,000 unreported Covid deaths in Bihar, submits findings to Speaker

    Express News Service
    PATNA: The CPI-ML (Liberation) has claimed to have traced out 6,420 unreported deaths with symptoms of COVID-19 from across 1,693 villages in 9 Bihar districts and another 780 deaths without symptoms in a survey by its party cadres.

    The CPI-ML (Liberation) alleged that the state government in Bihar has been showing eaths due to Covid-19 during the second phase 20 times lesser than the actual numbers. After submitting a copy of survey- finding to the speaker of Bihar Legislative Assembly on Thursday, state general secretary of CPI-ML Kunal released the provisional unreported death figures from Covid -19 to the media.

    “The state government is under reporting the Covid death toll at least by 20 times. This is absolute injustice to the families, who have lost their members. We have carried out a thorough survey across 1,693 villages in 9 districts and come out with a provisional figure”, Kunal claimed.

    कोविड पर चर्चा से भाग रही और सदन में ऑक्सीजन के बारे में झूठ बोल रही सरकार को आज सदन में माले विधायकों ने घेरा।9 जिलों के 1693 गांवों के सर्वे में दर्ज 7200 मौत की अंतरिम सूची अध्यक्ष को सौंपी गई और सबों के परिजनों को 4 लाख मुआवजा की मांग की गई। pic.twitter.com/ptqIHnrEuo
    — Kunal/SC Chaudhary (@ShyamKnl) July 29, 2021

    As per the official data, 9,639 deaths have happened due to the pandemic in Bihar till date. If the CPI-ML tally is added in the official figure, the death toll will rise well above 16,000-mark.

    Kunal further added that 6,420 deaths with symptoms of Covid-19 were collected from Bhojpur, Patna (Rural), Rohtas, Siwan, Darbhanga, West Champaran, Arwal, Kaimur and Aurangabad.

    “The highest number of 1,978 deaths with symptoms of Covid-19 have been found from Bhojpur’s 132 panchayats followed by 1048 from Patna Rural’s 122 Panchayats, 1043 from Siwan’s 80 Panchayats, 696 from Arwal’s 66 Panchayats and others”, he added.

    Quoting details, he said that the dependents of only 126 out of 6420, who had died with symptoms akin to Covid-19, have applied for compensation of Rs 4 lakh from the state government.

    “Data collection on the unreported cases of Covid-19 deaths is still going on across 29 districts of state. We will soon after the collection of data on deaths will share the total finding from all districts “, Kunal claimed, adding that the majority of them with symptoms died without being tested.

    The data on deaths with symptoms of Covid were collected by the party from April 1, 2021 to May 31. The villages covered by the surveying members of CPI ML constitute 3.75 percent of the total 45,103 villages of Bihar.

    “We think the actual death tally after proper collection of unreported cases may go up to not less than 2 lakh”, he said. “Our findings expose the lies being continuously told by the government on Covid deaths. If the government and all of us are not serious about this, then how will we be able to deal with the challenges of the possible third wave?  We want to tell the government that instead of hiding the data, it should start accepting the truth”, Kunal said.  

  • Number of Covid deaths in Bihar could be more than official figures: CPI-ML survey  

    Express News Service
    PATNA: A CPI-ML team, after travelling across10 districts in Bihar, has said that the actual number of  Covid deaths in the state could be 10-20 times more than the official government figures.

    The team, comprising of  CPI-ML politburo member and AIPWA secretary Kavita Krishnan, editor of CPI-ML contemporary Lok-Yudh Santosh Sahar and members of Central Social Media Group, including Arun Kumar. conducted random visits across 10 districts including Bhojpur.

    As per state government, more than 9,625 Covid-deaths were reported in the state during the first and the second waves of pandemic but the CPI-ML teams’ findings estimate the Covid death figures to be around 1 lakh.

    Kavita Krishnan said that deaths with symptoms akin to Covid-19 in bulk have gone unreported in interiors of districts in the state. She said: “In fact, compilations of deaths and other documentations are in progress but there is no denying the fact that if unreported deaths are added, the toll of Covid would be 10 to 20 times higher than the official figures”.

    The teams stated the visit from Pawana village in Bhojpur district on July 7 and travelled across Bhojpur, Rohtas, Arwal, Paliganj, Chakia and Sheikhpura in Patna, Siwan, Darbhanga, Jehanabad, Arwal and other districts.

    Giving an example, Krishnan said that government had reported zero death from Pasora village in Bhojpur district but when she along with other members randomly enquired in the village, they found about 18 unreported deaths with symptoms akin to Covid.

    She said that details of findings with the figures of deaths after compilations would be submitted the Patna High Court and the media soon.

    Kunal, secretary of Bihar unit of CPI-ML, said that the teams took stock of the deaths due to coronavirus in these villages since last April and also interacted with the relatives, dependents and villagers of the deceased and recorded their statements.

    Citing a finding, Kunal said that very few people with symptoms akin to Covid were able to reach the hospitals and succumbed on way to the hospitals. “Many people didn’t go government hospitals due to the poor condition of the hospitals, acute shortage of oxygen or other treatment facilities, the fear of quarantine and fear of not getting the bodies of relatives after deaths due Covid”, Kunal said.

    The team also found that an year since the Covid outbreak, there are still many misconceptions among the people.  The information regarding wearing masks, washing hands and protection has not reached the bottom level at all.  

    “Hesitancy for vaccination still runs high in rural areas because of deficit of trust of the people in theModi-Nitish government.  However, it was also found that this fear has steadily subsided and people want to take the Covid vaccine”, Kavita Krishnan said.

  • Assam’s Congress-led grand alliance bickers over seats

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: There are rumblings in poll-bound Assam’s Congress-led grand alliance of Opposition parties even before they meet and hold discussions on seat-sharing arrangements.

    Apart from its traditional bastions, the minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) is seeking to contest from some Muslim-majority seats which are currently held by the Congress. 

    Congress, AIUDF, CPI, CPM, CPI-ML and regional Anchalik Gana Morcha are the six constituents of the grand alliance. They came together last month to put up a united fight against the ruling BJP.

    “Haven’t you elected Mujibur Rahman in advance from the Dalgaon seat? We are a constituent of the grand alliance, so I cannot say if Rahman will be the consensus candidate. But you can say it. Who do you want? I will show this video of yours at the meeting of the grand alliance. I will say the demand for Mujibur is huge,” AIUDF chief and Lok Sabha member Maulana Badruddin Ajmal told a crowd at a rally in Dalgaon. 

    Apart from Dalgaon, the AIUDF has set its sights on Baghbor, Sarukhetri and Mankachar seats, all of them held by the Congress. Ajmal has already held a rally at Sarukhetri. 

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    The Dhubri MP said in the event of a disagreement, AIUDF and Congress will go for a friendly contest at Dalgaon. 

    “What if the grand alliance doesn’t accept Rahman’s candidature from Dalgaon? Are you all ready if there is a friendly contest? Rahman stands a good chance to win the polls,” Ajmal, who is also a perfume baron, said addressing the crowd.

    He said Congress and AIUDF could face a Dalgaon-like situation in two to four other constituencies. 

    Ilias Ali, the sitting Congress MLA from Dalgaon, said he failed to comprehend why the AIUDF was eyeing this seat.

    “Since I am the sitting MLA, it is natural that I will contest from the seat. I don’t know why Ajmal wants to field someone from his party here,” a confused Ali said.

    He said a third party will benefit from the split of votes if both Congress and AIUDF contest from the seat. 

    The constituents of the grand alliance are likely to meet this week and discuss seat-sharing arrangements. 

    The Congress had appealed to Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and Raijor Dal, two regional entities floated last year against the backdrop of the agitation against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, to join the grand alliance. But they are working towards forming a united front of regional forces. AJP, Raijor Dal and Autonomous State Demand Committee have already forged an alliance.

    Assam Congress chief Ripun Bora said the grand alliance was envisaged to oust the BJP from power.

    “We are yet to hold discussions with the other components in the grand alliance on seat-sharing arrangements but we (Congress) have five-six qualified faces in each of the 126 seats,” Bora asserted.