A massive conference of the poor affected by bulldozer actions was organised at Gait Public Library in Patna on February 2, 2026 under the banner of the AIARLA during the Bihar Assembly budget session. The conference took up some of the most pressing issues confronting the state, including bulldozer demolitions, land and housing rights, rising violence against daughters of Bihar, unemployment, and discrimination in educational institutions. People affected by demolitions from different parts of the state participated in large numbers.
Addressing the conference, CPI(ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya launched a sharp attack on the policies of both the central and state governments and called for a decisive mass movement against bulldozer politics. He said that over the last twenty years Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has shifted from the agenda of land reforms to bulldozer politics. He pointed out that the slogan of “bulldozer action against mafia”, popularised in Uttar Pradesh, is now being projected across the country as a dangerous model. He asserted that the country runs by the Constitution and the rule of law, not by bulldozers, and that bulldozer actions are being used primarily against the poor, the landless, and especially minorities.
He said that wherever bulldozer terror has been unleashed, the red flag has led resistance against it. Many activists have gone to jail and returned to intensify the land movement further. He asserted that this struggle will not stop. He further said that under the pretext of removing “infiltrators” from voter lists and “encroachers” from land, the poor are being targeted, while land and resources are being handed over to corporate houses like Adani and Ambani. Poor people who were earlier forced to migrate due to lack of employment are now being displaced again in the name of development and branded as enemies of development.
Recalling the freedom movement and the struggle for abolition of zamindari, CPIML GS said that land for the poor was secured only through Left movements. He said the present struggle is clearly one between bulldozer politics and land rights and called upon participants to return with a resolve to intensify people’s resistance against bulldozer actions.
Speaking on MGNREGA, he said the scheme was built on Mahatma Gandhi’s principle that the true test of any policy is the well-being of the poorest Indian. He recalled that while the Land Acquisition Act was enacted in 2013, the BJP government began attacking both land rights and MGNREGA after coming to power. Under the slogan of “Viksit Bharat”, MGNREGA is being systematically weakened. He questioned how India can develop without guaranteeing employment. He asserted that the right to land and housing, a ban on forced land acquisition, and a legal guarantee of employment are central issues of the present struggle. The conference also extended full support to the strike called by workers’ organisations against the labour codes.
Referring to the NEET student rape and murder case, Comrade Dipankar said that bulldozer politics on one hand and rising violence against women and children on the other have become defining features of BJP rule. He said both must be fought with equal resolve and unity.
On higher education, he said that UGC regulations to prevent discrimination in higher educational institutions were framed following Supreme Court directions after institutional killings such as those of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi. He said it is extremely dangerous that these safeguards have now been stayed under pressure from BJP-sponsored campaigns, while the Modi government and the UGC remain silent despite claiming to represent backward classes.
The conference unanimously adopted resolutions condemning bulldozer demolitions targeting Dalit and poor settlements across districts such as Nalanda, Begusarai, Samastipur, Madhubani, and Darbhanga. It demanded an immediate halt to demolitions, physical surveys of all settlements, issuance of housing pattas to families residing on various categories of land, construction of residential colonies for the landless, strengthening and restoration of MGNREGA with 200 days of work and fair wages, withdrawal of the labour codes, reconsideration of land acquisition policies, and accountability for violence against Dalits and rural workers.
The conference resolved to intensify statewide mass struggles on land, housing, employment, and dignity, asserting that wherever bulldozers are used against the poor, organised resistance under the banner of CPI(ML) and Khet Gramin Mazdoor Sabha will be strengthened.
Several leaders addressed the conference, including MLA Sandeep Saurabh, AIPWA leader Meena Tiwari, AICCTU leader R N Thakur, Kisan Mahasabha leader Umesh Singh, Asharfi Sada, former MLA Manju Prakash, MLC Shashi Yadav, Manoj Manzil, Birendra Gupta, Mehboob Alam, Satyadev Ram, and Dhirendra Jha. The conference was presided over by Asha Devi, Satya Narayan Prasad, and Shanichari Devi, while proceedings were conducted by Shatrughan Sahni. A large number of activists and affected families were present.
