CPI(ML) criticises Bihar govt’s anti-encroachment drive, alleges 'bulldozer action' displacing poor

Patna, Dec 3 (PTI) CPI(ML) Liberation leaders on Wednesday criticised the Bihar government’s ongoing anti-encroachment drive, alleging that the "bulldozer action" was displacing the poor while favouring the wealthy.

Addressing a protest rally held in Patna’s Gardanibagh area, Paliganj MLA Sandeep Saurav accused the government of attempting to "present the face of a beautiful city by rendering people destitute".

"If they will install flowerpots by the streetside to make Patna beautiful, then where will the poor go?” he asked.

He alleged that the state was trying to introduce a "mall culture" by removing street vendors and footpath shops "to benefit capitalists".

Warning the government, Saurav said, "Bihar’s people won’t necessarily wait for five years. We will initiate action on the streets and chase you out of power if needed." Former MLA and CPI(ML) central committee member Mehboob Alam accused state Home Minister Samrat Choudhary of harassing the poor through the anti-encroachment drive.

"Instead of guaranteeing livelihood opportunities, the new home minister has started running bulldozers across the state to assert his dominance," he alleged.

Claiming that street vendors facing the crackdown are not encroachers, Alam said, "Real encroachers should be identified first." He added that many vendors who had once received Rs 10,000 under the PM Svanidhi Yojana were now being targeted.

"If non-cultivable land can be used for government buildings, and Adani can be given land for Re 1, then why can’t the poor who have lived in their places for 7–8 decades be given ‘parcha’ for land?” he asked.

Alam said the party would not allow “repression” to continue.

Divya Gautam, who contested from Digha assembly constituency in the Bihar polls, alleged that the government's attempt to evict the poor under the guise of an anti-encroachment drive is reflective of its intent.

"Have they been allotted vending zones or other alternative outlets? No, certainly not," she said, adding, "People who are at the heart and centre of running the city (Patna) have been evicted in this cold winter".

She said such actions violated the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, which requires alternative arrangements before eviction.

"We will take a legal route to stop this anti-encroachment drive," she added.

Former Phulwari Sharif MLA Gopal Ravidas alleged that wealthy encroachers were being spared while the homeless were being targeted.

He said street vendors between GPO Golambar and Mahavir Mandir had been given cards and loans earlier, but were now being evicted. "From where will they repay their loans?" he asked.

He said "bulldozer action" was underway in Gaya, Buxar, Aurangabad and other districts.

"Our demand is parcha, not bulldozers. The government must work to provide livelihood opportunities," he said.

Claiming that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was now the "shadow chief minister", Das alleged that the government was effectively run by the BJP. PTI SUK MNB