Patna, Mar 1 (PTI) CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Friday claimed that Bihar would be converted into "a police state" with the implementation of stringent crime control legislations passed by the assembly a day ago.
Addressing a press conference here, Bhattacharya alleged that the Bihar Control of Crime Bill and Public Security Enforcement Bill were aimed at "replicating the bulldozer justice model" of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
"The BJP may have agreed to continue with Nitish Kumar as the chief minister, but these bills show it is calling the shots in the new government,” said the Left leader, denouncing the new laws, which give more teeth to the police in dealing with immoral trafficking, liquor smuggling and illegal sandmining.
"We should be wary of the bulldozer raj made popular by the Yogi Adityanath government in UP. It is being emulated elsewhere... We will launch a state-wide agitation against this attempt to impose bulldozer justice model on Bihar and convert it into a police state,” he said.
Flaying the BJP for allegedly poaching opposition MLAs and MPs in many states, including Bihar, Bhattacharya demanded an amendment in the anti-defection law, making it mandatory for lawmakers to give up their membership of Parliament or state legislature before crossing over to another party.
"We will raise public awareness to ensure that voters punish the turncoats in elections,” Bhattacharya asserted.
He also accused Kumar, who heads the JD(U), of "setting an example of flip flops”, which MLAs of Congress and RJD "seem to have followed in switching sides while holding on to their seats".
Replying to a query, he admitted that "we committed a mistake in our assessment of Nitish Kumar in 2022, when he had quit the NDA, claiming to have snapped ties with the BJP for good".
"We agreed to support his government, setting aside misgivings arising out of his past record. We thought he had burnt his bridges like Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray,” the CPI(ML) Liberation leader said.
He also expressed confidence that the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ rally scheduled here on March 3, which is likely to be attended by top opposition leaders like former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, "will be historic in terms of its impact".