CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattachary in Darbhanga to attend 12th Bihar State Conference on Saturday, May 16, 2026. | Photo credit: Special arrangement
With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning the West Bengal assembly elections with a landslide majority, opposition leaders in Bihar came together under one roof on Saturday (May 16, 2026) to call for collective power. They gathered for the three-day 12th Bihar State Conference of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation (CPI(ML)), which began at the Polo Ground in Laheriasarai, Darbhanga.
CPI (ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, speaking at a seminar on ‘Question of Democracy vs Bulldozer’s Paradise’, said that the people of the country must wage a new freedom struggle to regain the threatened freedom.
He said people were living in a new era – defined by BJP rule – where indiscriminate use of bulldozers was openly discussed instead of “good governance” (Sushasan). Referring to the war in West Asia, he said the power of the people was evident in Iran, where they successfully forced both the US and Israel to bow.
In stark contrast, as Mr. Bhattacharya noted, the foreign policy adopted by the Indian government has damaged the country’s global image. “Prime Minister Modi’s appeals in the name of patriotism are only a ploy to deflect the burden of the current crisis for which his own government is responsible,” he said.
He further said, “Employees across the country are fighting to secure minimum wages. The nation has witnessed student-led movements, protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the farmers’ movement. The INDIA Bloc has emerged from the very center of these movements. We need to unite with all these forces of resistance to gain collective power.”
Mr. Bhattacharya argued that the opposition must move with courage and resolve to defend truth against falsehood. He said the ‘bulldozer’ of the BJP must be stopped at all costs – a force that secured victory in West Bengal through SIR (Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls) and in Bihar by distributing ₹10,000 to women.
“We may have lost the election, but we have not lost our resolve,” Mr. Bhattacharya said.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Bihar President Mangani Lal Mandal supported the conference and engaged in a detailed discussion on rising poverty, violence against women and alleged discriminatory attitude of the Center under the state’s “twin engine” government. Mr. Mandal also said that neither the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) nor the Election Commission of India (ECI) could be trusted.
Congress MLC Madan Mohan Jha noted that the INDIA bloc continues to protest and defy despite alleged electoral rigging, coercion and abuse of democratic institutions.
Rajaram Singh, CPI(ML) MP from Karakat, said the elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu signaled imminent threats to the constitution and democracy. He called for the preservation of democracy by opposing the process of delimitation.
CPI state secretary Ramnaresh Pandey, Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) leader Balgovind Bind, MP Ara Sudama Prasad of CPI(ML) and others also addressed the open session of the conference. The proceedings were anchored by Dhirendra Jha, CPI(ML) Mithila zone in-charge.
Published – 16 May 2026 19:50 IST
