A collusive relationship between politicians and Naxalites or the People's War (PW) and Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI), which have merged on September 21, 2004, to form the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), is clearly visible in Bihar, as in several other parts of the country.
Routinely, several unscrupulous, power hungry leaders of various political parties have sought the rebels' support during elections. Leaders of the BJP, RJD, Congress (I), and Left parties have received support from the MCCI/PW and had, in return, either paid vast sums of money or offered "concessions". It is said that a former Union Minister, Chandradeo Verma, who is an accused in the fodder scam, won the elections with help from PW to defeat his CPI (ML) rival. The CPI (ML) has been participating in parliamentary politics and democratic processes, while the PW/MCCI has an avowed commitment to capturing state power through "armed struggle".
In fact, allegations of the PW's connivance with political parties to target the CPI (ML) continue. On October 28, the CPI (ML) said "the RJD and PW have ganged up to target its men and women activists alike" to diminish its hold in certain parts of Bihar.
In Jharkhand, too, Opposition and ruling party politicians sought the assistance of the Naxalites during elections. One such leader reportedly paid Rs 2 Crore to the MCCI during the 1999 Parliamentary elections and went on to become a union minister.
Reports also indicate that several top-level political leaders maintain ties with the PW/MCCI. Addressing an election rally in Garwah on April 14, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav reportedly appealed to the MCCI to target BJP candidates. Immediately, a BJP leader, Kiran Ghai, said he had no doubt that Lalu Prasad Yadav had linkages with the Naxalites. However, it is difficult to state conclusively whether or not the charge was politically motivated. Besides, on August 23, some PW men were arrested from the residence of RJD MLA Dinanath Yadav in Paliganj. He was later suspended from the party.
Also, the MCCI/PW supported a few candidates in the local bodies elections in 2001 in Jahanabad, and a former MCCI commander contested in the last parliamentary polls from Chatra. Leaders who have opposed the PW/MCCI have had to pay a heavy price. For instance, the houses of Bihar's ex-chief minister, Satyendra Narain Sinha, were set ablaze.
Thus, apparently, politicians strike deals with the PW/MCCI as much for electoral gains as for the 'safety' of their life and property. Indeed, as long as the politicians enter into, and maintain, expedient political alliances with the rebels, the latter would continue to flourish and subvert democracy and its institutions in the country. The merger between the PW and the MCCI only compounds this eminently avoidable danger.
Courtesy: The Pioneer, New Delhi, October 30, 2004.
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