CPI(ML) Alleges NDA’s Misuse of Power After Candidate Arrests
Left party decries post-nomination detentions as election repression.
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation has slammed the arrests of two prominent party candidates—sitting MLA Satyadeo Ram and Jitendra Paswan—as a desperate bid by the ruling NDA to crush opposition voices just days before nominations close.The duo, who filed their papers for the November 2025 polls, were reportedly hauled into custody moments after stepping out of the nomination centers in Siwan district's Darauli and Bhore constituencies, respectively. CPI(ML) Liberation, a vocal ally in the opposition Mahagathbandhan alongside RJD and Congress, labeled the charges as "fabricated and baseless," pointing to a pattern of police overreach to intimidate Left leaders ahead of the two-phase voting on November 6 and 11.
"We vehemently condemn the politically orchestrated arrests of Comrade Jitendra Paswan, our CPI(ML) nominee from Bhore, and Comrade Satyadeo Ram, the incumbent MLA and our candidate from Darauli," the party's statement thundered. "These detentions, slapped on immediately after filing nominations, expose the sheer terror gripping the JD(U)-NDA regime. They're quaking at the sight of Bihar's masses rising up for real change."
Satyadeo Ram, a battle-hardened activist and honorary president of Bihar's All India Agricultural and Rural Labourers Association (AIARLA), has long been a thorn in the establishment's side. A Dalit rights champion, he previously contested and won the 2020 Darauli seat while jailed on trumped-up charges linked to a 2013 land dispute in Chilmarva village, where armed mobs allegedly backed by local BJP figures tried to evict Dalit families. Ram's 2015 victory over BJP's Ramayan Manjhi by over 9,500 votes cemented his status as a symbol of resistance against feudal strongholds in Siwan, a region scarred by the legacy of mafia dons like Mohammad Shahabuddin.
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Jitendra Paswan, vice-president of the party's Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA), brings youthful fire to Bhore, focusing on youth unemployment and rural distress—issues that have fueled anti-incumbency against the Nitish Kumar-led government. Both constituencies fall in the first phase of polling, where CPI(ML) hopes to leverage its 2020 haul of 12 seats to chip away at NDA's dominance.
The party didn't mince words on the broader plot: "Facing a tidal wave of public fury over the crumbling 'double-engine' sarkar—plagued by joblessness, farm crises, and corruption—the BJP-JD(U) cabal is weaponizing cops and bureaucrats to muzzle dissent. This is textbook repression, but it won't break our resolve."
CPI(ML) Liberation, reborn from the turbulent Naxalite movements of the 1970s, has rebuilt its base among Bihar's Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), and landless laborers since the 1990s. Its 2020 breakthrough, including two Lok Sabha seats in 2024, underscores a shift from armed struggle to electoral muscle, often clashing with NDA's caste-based alliances.
With nominations for the first phase ending October 17, the arrests have drawn sharp rebukes from Mahagathbandhan partners. RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, eyeing a comeback, tweeted solidarity, calling it "Nitish's jungle raj 2.0." Congress echoed demands for immediate release, warning of eroded democratic space. On the flip side, JD(U) sources dismissed the claims, insisting the arrests stemmed from "pending warrants" unrelated to politics, though details remain murky.
As Bihar braces for a polarized showdown—NDA locked in a 101-101 seat split between BJP and JD(U), plus allies like Chirag Paswan's LJP(RV) on 29—these detentions spotlight the razor-thin line between campaigning and crackdown. CPI(ML) vowed street protests and legal battles, asserting: "Bihar's people will bury this failed regime on November 14. No jail can chain the revolution."Analysts see this as a flashpoint in a state where Left votes could tip scales in 30-40 seats. With youth turnout key and EBCs disillusioned by unfulfilled promises, the opposition's narrative of "repression vs. rights" might just rally the fence-sitters, turning nomination drama into a vote-changer.
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