He dwelt at great detail to say how things have gone from bad to worse there, especially in Assam, where various outfits extort money from tea gardens, refinery and other business-houses. As there is flush of fund––90 per cent central grant and 10 per cent loan––there is mad rush to gobble up the entire amount. One can just see as to how much development work has taken place in those places. Various groups have floated their own outfits and Tiger forces for this very purpose.

He said once Bihar gets the special status all these people who are today seen with black specs in big photos with chief minister Nitish Kumar in the huge banners all over Patna would turn into extortionists and would bleed the state white. They have already wreaked havoc and once Bihar gets this status nothing would be left in the state.

The CPI ML leader said that Nitish is using the demand of special status category just to hide the failure of the government. He said that Bihar had seen several big rallies, including the Garib Railla of Lalu Yadav, but never had the entire state government got engrossed in its preparation work so much as today. For last three months no work whatsoever has taken place in Bihar and the chief minister and his bureaucrats are busy undertaking Yatra and touring various places just and just to ask people to come to the rally. Farmers are invited by BDOs on the plea that they would be distributed free seeds. Instead of giving seeds the officers asks them to get ready to attend Adhikar Rally.

Dipankar said it was his party, which in fact for the first time, organized a big rally in Delhi after the bifurcation of Bihar to demand special status because Bihar was deprived of all its mines and other resources.

But what is happening today is something very shocking. In the name of special status the chief minister is leaving no stone unturned to give free hand to his men. Janata Dal (United) Leaders are ringing up from jails and openly demanding money.

The CPI ML leader appealed to the people to attend the Parivartan rally of his party to be held in Gandhi Maidan on November 9.

Prof Nawal Kishore Chaudhary of Patna University regretted that things have gone horribly wrong in the last seven years. He said that not only the four pillars of democracy, but even the fifth pillar, that is, academics is in deplorable condition. He said that there is no scope for things to go further bad in higher education in Bihar. He questioned the silence of media and even criticized the role of Raj Bhawan.

He pointedly asked the chief minister as to what had happened to Common School System and land reforms he had promised repeatedly and for which commissions were constituted. Should it wait for special status category?

Journalist Soroor Ahmed said that there is nothing static in the world. Everything is changing, but the big question is whether it is changing for good or bad.

He warned that the corporate media is much more refined and sophisticated in its design and many journalists are serving the purpose of their capitalist masters in much more polished manner today. He cited the example of how Bijli, Sadak aur Pani (electricity, road and water) was made political slogan by the media when the real demand of the people was roti, kapada aur makan (bread, cloth and house).

CPI leader Khagendra Thakur said that Bihar is passing through its worst phase. There is no industry, no land reforms nothing. Similar is the situation in neighbouring Jharkhand, which came up 12 years back. If Punjab, which has no mine can become industrialized just on the basis of success in the field of agriculture why can not Bihar do the same.

Social activist Manish Shandilya asked as to how Narendra Modi of Gujarat can be termed communal and Sushil Modi of Bihar secular. They are both the same. This is very dangerous trend adopted by communal and fascist forces in Bihar. He attributed this to the propaganda machinery of Nitish Kumar. Rubbishing the growth rate claim of Bihar he said that even neighbouring Jharkhand has a very good growth rate when there is hardly any development there and a number of government has come and gone.

Cultural activist Vinod was of the view that Nitish Kumar government came to power in 2005 by default because of the failure of the previous government. It is after coming to power that it consolidated itself. What is happening in Bihar now is very much before the people. He asked the Left to learn from experience and re-draw its strategy.

Prof Binay Kanth traced the issue of change in the historical context and agreed with what Prof Chaudhary said earlier. He also suggested measures which can bring about real and positive changes in Bihar and India.