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  • 7/23/2025
WATCH | In an interview, CPI(ML)Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya stressed the importance of the upcoming Bihar elections, warning that the State could follow Maharashtra’s trajectory unless the BJP is stopped. He argued that Bihar should instead emulate Jharkhand, highlighting concerns over what he called the BJP’s push for a “bulldozer Raj.”

Bhattacharya traced the role of Bhagat Singh in shaping early leftist thought in India and criticised the last decade as unprecedented in its suppression of non-Hindutva voices. He noted that the grassroots approach once synonymous with the communist movement has now been co-opted by right-wing groups.

Reflecting on the origins of the Indian Constitution, he contrasted its inclusive and secular foundation with present-day attempts to redefine nationalism. With Bihar under the same government for two decades, he pointed to growing discontent and a strong call for change. Bhattacharya expressed confidence that Bihar can push back against the BJP’s influence.

Reporter: Snigdhendu Bhattacharya
Camera: Sanidpan Chatterjee
Editor: Madiha Shakeel

#BiharElections #DipankarBhattacharya #CPIML #BulldozerRaj #BhagatSingh #IndianPolitics #LeftVsRight #IndianConstitution #BJP #Bihar #BiharElections2025

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Transcript
00:00Bihar is a very crucial election and it is for us to make sure that Bihar doesn't go the Maharashtra way.
00:06As I said, Bihar should go the Jharkhand way.
00:09So, we'll have to stop the BJP here because otherwise if they get a chance,
00:14they will turn Bihar into another laboratory of bulldozer raj.
00:30For me, Bhagat Singh was the pioneer of the left movement.
00:35He never became a formerly a member of the Communist Party.
00:38But he probably came up with the first prototype of a communist program for India.
00:45Today, of course, we are in an unprecedented situation the last 10 years.
00:50Without any parallel, no previous decade of India, even in colonial period.
00:55Every non-Hindutra trend in modern India, it has basically suffered a lot in the last 10 years.
01:06The communist movement had a very down-to-earth kind of style of work, very hardworking, nothing superficial.
01:15So, today the RSS is also in everything they will say Ghar Ghar Ghar, Sindhu, even they wanted to take it Ghar Ghar.
01:21So, you know, to go right down to the peoples, you know, everywhere, the villages.
01:28So, that kind of a grassroots approach, which is, I think, a vintage communist style of work, which they have now adopted.
01:36Today's right-wingers, the RSS, the Hindu Mahasava, they were a very marginal force then.
01:43So, if the balance of forces, it is because of the left strength, so there was a left or center-left kind of balance of forces,
01:53which kept the right-wing forces, the far-right today's, on the margin.
01:59This constitution was, became a very natural constitution for India then, whereas today, you find that the RSS and the BJP,
02:11every time they are trying to redefine Indian nationalism and Hindu nationalism.
02:15Whereas that time, Indian nationalism was inclusive, secular, and it was anti-imperialist.
02:22So, I think the left played a big role in shaping national consciousness, the texture of Indian nationalism, and the vision of modern India.
02:32Vyar has been fighting, from the days of independence.
02:34So, even the survival of Bihar, you know, left is not just change, even survival, it needs a left movement.
02:42And from survival to change.
02:45And this is what the left movement is about.
02:52We have had the same government for 20 years, so Bihar is basically, today, fed up with this government.
03:01So, there is a cry for change.
03:04As we say, Badlo Sarkar, Badlo Bihar.
03:07That's the kind of demand or, you know, cry which is coming from every village.
03:12So, we'll have to make sure that we succeed in doing this.
03:15And I think it's possible, it's possible.
03:17The BJP is, of course, trying, but even in the Lok Sabha, too, we managed to inflict some blows to the BJP.
03:26Let's hope that Bihar is able to stop the BJP and this government, which has been here for 20 years, get rid of this government.

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