Bihar’s political temperature has risen sharply after Comrade Jitendra Paswan, former CPI(ML) candidate from the Bhore Assembly constituency in Gopalganj district, a State Committee member of the party and State President of the Inquilabi Naujawan Sabha, was convicted by a lower court in a murder case. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) has termed the verdict “deeply unfortunate” and described it as an outcome of political vendetta.
In a statement issued in Patna, CPI(ML) State Secretary Kunal asserted that Paswan had neither any direct nor indirect involvement in the case for which he was convicted. He alleged that the case was politically motivated and that the judgment had been influenced under pressure from the local JD(U) MLA and Bihar’s Education Minister Sunil Kumar.
Kunal made it clear that the party would challenge the verdict and file an appeal before the Patna High Court. He said CPI(ML) would fight the legal battle through constitutional and democratic means and expressed hope that the High Court would deliver impartial justice.
Linking the issue to a broader political context, the CPI(ML) leader alleged that efforts to suppress the Opposition’s voice have intensified, from Parliament to the Bihar Legislature. He claimed that Opposition legislators are being denied opportunities to speak in the House and are being marshalled out, calling it a violation of democratic norms. He described these developments as part of a process that weakens democracy.
Kunal further alleged that while people are protesting on the streets over public issues, including rising violence against women and students in Bihar, the government has chosen repression over dialogue. He accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the JD(U), in alliance with the BJP, of displaying increasingly authoritarian tendencies.
CPI(ML) has demanded that democratically elected representatives be allowed to raise public issues freely within the House. The party urged that the democratic traditions of debate and discussion in the legislature must not be undermined and that meaningful deliberations in the public interest be ensured.
The case has triggered significant political reactions, and attention is now focused on the appeal expected to be filed in the Patna High Court.
